Ponorogo holds Reog Festival to preserve its indigenous culture

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Ponorogo

Not long after Malaysia agreed Indonesia's traditional mask dance Reog was not Malay in origin, the National Reog Festival XIV was held in Poprogo regency, East Java.

The four-day festival, which opened Saturday, was part of the Islamic New Year celebration known as Grebeg Suro.

The event was well attended despite floods being reported throughout the regency.

Forty-two groups took part in the festival, while last year there were only 31. A group from Wonogiri, Central Java, which was declared the best Reog group three years running -- from 2004-2007 -- was prevented from participating this year.

"The Wonogiri group may be absent, but the other groups are better prepared than in previous years," said Luhur Karsanto, the secretary of Ponorogo regency.

The participants came from various places like Probolinggo, Gresik, Surabaya, Jember, Batu, Kediri, Jakarta and other areas outside Java such as South Sumatera, Riau, Lampung and East Kalimantan.

In November, some 2,000 Reog dancers from Ponorogo, Wonogiri and Greater Jakarta held a rally in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, slamming Kuala Lumpur for promoting Reog, which originally comes from Ponorogo, in its tourism campaign.

The Malaysian ambassador responded by acknowledging the dance had been brought to Malaysia by Javanese people about 150 years ago.

Opening the Reog festival at Ponorogo Square, Regent Muhadi Suyono said the event was being held both to preserve the Reog culture and to support the national government initiative Visit Indonesia Year.

"Visit Indonesia Year consists of 100 national events, one of which is the National Reog Festival," Muhadi said.

The regency administration has been criticized for holding the festival amid the suffering caused by the flood.

Karsanto said he was surprised by such "facile" criticism.

He said the regency administration had been sheltering flood victims at its office compound where it had also established a public kitchen. "And we will continue to hold the Grebeg Suro celebration because it is important for the preservation of our culture."

At the opening of the festival, a number of Reog groups from outside Ponorogo handed over donations for the flood victims.

"It is important to remember that the festival is being held amid concerns (for the victims), thank you for your support," Muhadi said.