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Banners bearing congratulatory messages, strings of lights and flags in red and white are visible all over town ahead of Independence Day on Monday.

The occasion has traditionally been celebrated with fun games and competitions, such as sack races, tug of war and greasy-pole climbing. And two suggested venues for watching — or participating in — all the fun are Carnaval Beach and the Gelanggang Samudera theme park, both in the Taman Impian Jaya Ancol recreational area in North Jakarta.

The events there have been dubbed as “Lomba Kolosal Rakyat dan Ekspatriat” (Colossal Competitions for Indonesians and Expatriates).

“This year’s celebrations [at Ancol] will be a bit different because we’re including traditional games virtually unknown to the younger generation,” said Nicken Putri, the park’s public relations officer.

“We’re also inviting expatriates to play along, so they can experience that side of our culture,” she said.

Also scheduled to take place at Carnaval Beach on Sunday and Monday is the Free People Party — two days of concerts featuring Indonesian singers Rhoma Irama, Mulan Jameela and Nita Talia.

To celebrate Independence Day as well as to welcome the holy month of Ramadan, Aksara Records and the Kandank Jurank Doank school of nature are scheduling workshops and performances.

Held at the organization’s headquarters in Ciputat, Banten, the workshops include photography, lyrics writing and film scoring, and the performers include bands like Goodnight Electric, Efek Rumah Kaca (the Greenhouse Effect) and The Brandals.

Emma from Kandank Jurank Doank said there was no entrance fee.

“All you need to do is donate a book or a notebook for our reading community, and you’re in,” she said.

Nature lovers can head out to West Java this weekend to join a program run by the Halimun-Salak Mountain Range National Park Agency.

From Sunday to Monday, participants — in the company of park rangers — will be traipsing through the vast forest zone picking up rubbish.

“The peak of the event will be the raising of the [Indonesian] flag at the Kawah Ratu point, but participants will be cleaning up the area as they head there from the Cidahu Post,” said Sri Mulyati from the national park’s mountain adventure division.
Where to Go:

Kandank Jurank Doank
Pondok Sawah Indah complex (Alvita), Blok Q No. 14, Ciputat, Banten
Phone/Fax: 021 746-31934

Halimun-Salak Mountain Range National Park Bureau
Jl. Raya Cipanas, Kecamatan Kabandungan, Sukabumi
Phone/Fax: 0266 621-256/621-257
Or send an e-mail to Sri Mulyati at smadspider@yahoo.com