Nights in Bengkulu along Tabot Festival

Night of "Tabot Besanding"  (Tabots Gathering)

Along the tabot festival in Bengkulu, the night is becoming brighter, more colorful and crowded of visitors. This is because there is always something new, something different in each night along those ten nights of Tabot Festival. If you lose one of them, you cannot find it again in other night until next year festival.

Dancing Contest in Tabot Festival 2011

The local dancing contest is one among many events that takes place on Tabot Festival in Bengkulu Indonesia 2011. This contest is joined by many Bengkulu dance groups. Theme of the dance performed by those groups in this contest is related to the tabot ceremony background. The contest was held from November 28 - 29 night of 2011.The performers were amazing. The dancing were ornamented with the amazing Bengkulu percussion music - The Dol- as its music background. The next amazing contest is Dol (music percussion from Bengkulu) contest which will be held on December 2 or 3. Here are some photos of the dancing contest event at Tabot Festival Bengkulu Indonesia.

Tabot Festival In Bengkulu Indonesia

Tabot festival in Bengkulu Indonesia

Once every year of arabic calendar, Tabot festival is held in the city of Bengkulu Indonesia  from 1st  to 10th day of its first month (Muharram).  On  this year (2011) this event will be held  on November 27 to December 6. This festival is so attractive. In ten days in Bengkulu city, there are different rituals will be held to complete the ceremony of Tabot every day. The festival would also feature performing arts, markets, craft fairs, and various competitions such as decorative wagon, Dol (big local drum) contest, regional dance contest, and various other arts events. 

Hauling Beach Seines at Bengkulu Beach

Towing a beach seine at Bengkulu Beach. In local language it is called "maelo pukek"

Hauling beach seines is one of some Bengkulu's fishermen methods to catch fishes from the beach. This method has long been existed in Bengkulu, maybe before Indonesian Independence the fishermen of Bengkulu had acknowledged to this method. I still remember when i was in kindergarten we were taught to sing a local song entitled "Yo botoy botoy" that describing the hauling beach seines culture at Bengkulu beach.

The Amazing Sound of DOL - Traditional Drum From Bengkulu

Dol is a traditional music instrument from Bengkulu-Indonesia. It is a typical of percussion instrument which shaped like a big drum. Dol is made of wood which is pierced in the middle and then covered with cow husk. Its diameter is about 70 - 125 cm, and its beater appliance has 5 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length. The way of using it is by lapping it.

Cast Net Throwing at Sungai Hitam River Bengkulu

Cast net throwing at Sungai Hitam (Black River) Bengkulu -Indonesia

Maybe this is the fastest method in catching the fish. A cast net (Indonesian Language called jala) is very common for Indonesian fishermen or fishing hobbyist  as a mean to catch fishes from the shallow and free of obstruction water.  A basic cast net is a circular net with weighted edges. The net is attached to a line so that it can be retrieved, and another line is attached to a drawstring which can be used to pull the net closed, trapping fish inside. It is operated by throwing it  in such manner  that it could spread out on the water, sink and trap the catch. Anything could be catched by cast net as long as the size of the catch is bigger than its mesh

Photo Gallery of Life and Times of Bengkulu's Fishermen part 1

An old fisherman is inspecting his throw net at Bengkulu beach

Bengkulunese Dance Video

Some Bengkulunese dancers doing rehearsal

copyright 2011 Nurul Iman Supardi

e-mail: nurulimanunib@gmail.com

Bengkulu - Indonesia

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Related Post :

Traditional Dance rehearsal

Dancing Contest at Tabot Festival

Tabot Festival in Bengkulu

Sound of Dol (traditional drum)