Fulfilling the invitation from the International Children’s Safety Service, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia have participated in the Children’s Day Event at the Hungarian Capital’s City Park. The beautiful sunny Sunday has brought many smiles on the faces of the visiting children and also of their parents.

 The cheerful Indonesians have started gain attention with their appearance at the main stage. Starting from 11 o’clock the embassy have shown elements of the countries rich cultural heritage.  The first was the Sundanese degung gamelan from the Western part of Java island. The sound of the gamelan seemed to freshen the audience in hot sun.

After the gamelan played by young Hungarian and Indonesian adults it was time to see the Indonesian-Hungarian children! We have seen three dances from them. Two (Cublak Cublak Suweng and Kuda Lumping) from Java, performed beautifully by Indonesian-Hungarian teens who were born in Indonesia, but now live in Hungary and speak both languages fluently.

 The third dance was performed by a larger group of children. The children, dressed in traditional clothes charmed the audience with their joyful performance of the contemporary Indonesian dance creation, the Blek Dit Dot.

 Next, the children performed a medley of Indonesian folk songs with the surprise addition of a Hungarian folk tune, all performed with the accompaniment of the guitar and the Indonesian bamboo xilophone, the arumba.

 Closing the one hour program on the main stage the Indonesian-Hungarian children performed a dance from the Indonesian province of Papua. The audience was welcome to join the dance and many were happy to join, both on stage and in front of the stage.

 Meanwhile in the Indonesian tent the embassy’s staff have prepared to welcome the many thousand children and parents who decided to visit the City Park that day.

The Indonesian tent was certainly among the most busy tents at the event! The visitors were able to see how to make and to taste the dadar gulung. The Indonesian coconut filled pancake appealed to children and parents alike with it’s mild sweet taste and it’s natural green color.

The children were given the chance to try the unique gamelan instruments; the saron, the kendang, the bonang and the majestic gong. Some of the children have really got absorbed in playing the gamelan.

The most popular activity, however was  the wayang puppet making and drawing coloring led by Polett Dus who has studied the art of wayang in Central-Java. The tent was not big enough for the children who all wanted to get near the intricate puppets or the more simple but interesting drawings of Indonesian animals, buildings or flowers.

The children who visited the Indonesian tent have received small gifts that will make them remeber this delighful day.