JAKARTA – Head of the Karo Regency Tourism and Culture Office Munarta Ginting has denied allegations that his office used non-Karo dances at the opening of the Flower and Fruit Festival which took place on 4–6 July 2024.
Speaking to The Editor on Tuesday (9/6), Munarta said that the Batak dance at the festival that went viral on social media in recent days did not appear at the opening in the morning, but in the afternoon at around 5.30 pm.
“They performed at 5.30 pm. After the show, they had a break to rest, pray, and eat,” he said.
He revealed that the Flower and Fruit Festival in Taneh Karo lasts for 3 days. The opening of the festival was on the first day and took place in the morning.
Not only that, he added, he wants the public to understand that every district that neighbors Karo Regency was invited to every festival event.
“And there are dances from 7 ethnicities in Karo Regency,” he said.
Denies That Flower Farmers were Unhappy During the Festival
Munarta also denied allegations that flower and fruit farmers in Taneh Karo were unhappy during the festival.
He claimed that he even visited the flower sales center in Raya Village, Berastagi.
“Yesterday (Monday, 8/7) I went to a flower-producing village. This year, they said, the festival helped them by using their flowers and fruits. We have seen more benefits,” he said.
“Supply and demand are limited. There are still 25 parade cars at the festival. We hope to increase it to 50 next year,” he added.
Munarta also explained that it takes around Rp1.2 billion to organize the Flower and Fruit Festival.
The Karo Regional Government itself, according to him, has disbursed Rp600 million to organize this event.
The rest is the responsibility of the event organizer to find sponsorship so that the event can take place.
“The benefit for the local government is that this event makes hotel occupancy, parking (retribution), and restaurants full – a profit,” he said.
Aside from local revenue), Munarta claimed that economic turnover in the community is also high during the festival.
“Based on our assumption, the money that rotated during the festival was as much as Rp8 billion,” he said.
An Evaluation Material
To The Editor, Karo Deputy Regent Theopilus Ginting said that the Flower and Fruit Festival should be evaluated if it received a lot of negative responses from the public.
He hopes that the Taneh Karo Regent will immediately call the relevant parties to explain what had happened in the community so that it stirred up social media.
“If it is me, I will call for future evaluation material,” he said via WhatsApp.
Regarding the event that was held in many places, it also attracted Theopilus’ attention.
However, the man who is widely called Theo again leaves all decisions to the Regent of Taneh Karo.
“But the inputs are certainly a reference for me personally. When it comes to following up, the regent is more authorized,” he said.
Previously, the Flower and Fruit Festival, which was supposed to be a place for the Karo people to be happy, turned into a questionable event. It is because the opening dance of the festival which takes place every year allegedly did not depict Karo culture at all, but the culture of other tribes.
Participants’ Parade Car Decorated with Carrots
The committee’s negligence was also evident in the parade cars that were allowed to participate in the festival. Justin said this when responding to the parade car from Barus Jahe Village that used carrots, which are not part of the fruits and flowers.
It seemed similar to a mistake made by the Karo Regency government through the Berastagi sub-district head, in which they put carrot decorations in a brochure distributed online.
The brochure had invited laughter and satire from Karo netizens.
“Another strange thing was when the Barus Jahe Sub-district parade car at the Flower and Fruit Festival was decorated with carrots,” he said.
“Carrots come from the Dutch language which literally means roots. Carrots for human consumption are usually classified as tubers or vegetables, not flowers and not fruits,” he said again.
“The flyer for the Flower and Fruit Festival (Berastagi Sub-district) includes a picture of a cauliflower just because it has “flower”. Whereas this commodity is neither a flower nor a fruit, but a class of vegetables,” he said.
