Solo Holds Chinese New Year In A Simple Way, Only 1,000 Lanterns Are Installed

Photo via Antara

JAKARTA - The city of Solo, Central Java will hold a simple Chinese New Year celebration this year considering the COVID-19 pandemic still threatens the community.

The chairman of the Solo City 2022 Joint Lunar New Year Committee, Sumartono Hadinoto, said that in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic the number of lanterns installed in the Pasar Gede area and several other points reached 5,000 lanterns. Especially this year, only 1,000 lanterns are installed.

He said the 1,000 lanterns would be installed in the Surakarta City Hall Courtyard, Pemandengan Monument in front of Pasar Gede, and the Pasar Gede bridge.

In addition, there will be installation of Chinese zodiac lanterns at several points, namely the Shio of the Tiger which is five meters long from head to tip of the tail and the Shio of the God of Money which will be installed in front of the Surakarta City Hall.

"This Shio God of Money is so that sustenance throughout the Year of the Tiger will overflow us all. Later on, the lighting of the lantern lights will be closely monitored by the TNI/Polri and Satpol PP," said Sumartono as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, January 26.

To simplify the series of activities held during the Lunar New Year, for Grebek Sudiro it will be abolished, while the Cap Go Meh celebration which is usually attended by 1,000 participants, for this year will be reduced to 200 participants.

"This year at Cap Go Meh there are only prayers, entertainment and lion dance," he said.

In addition, the parade of 10 dragon lion dances playing along the road to Surakarta City Hall was cancelled.

"After we coordinated with the Head of the Surakarta City COVID-19 Task Force, we finally canceled it. Later, there will only be a beak lampah that will take the Mayor (Surakarta Mayor) from transit to the event venue and a little Barongsai dance in Solo," he said.

He explained that to ensure that there were no crowds of people who wanted to take selfies around the lanterns and zodiac signs, the committee would also provide a Chinese New Year-themed photo spot in Pucang Sawit, Jebres District and Taru Jurug Animal Park (TSTJ).

"For those in TSTJ, the background will be a real tiger photo but it is in a cage. Hopefully, residents can take advantage of these locations so that there are no crowds in one particular location," he said.

Previously, the Mayor of Surakarta, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, said that this year's Chinese New Year was held again but in a simple manner.

"The Chinese New Year has been missing for two years. I'm sorry if it's gone again, the important thing is that the health protocol is strict. But it's not as lively as in previous years, we eliminate Grebek Sudiro but don't let the Lunar New Year get lost," he said.

Speaking of Chinese New Year, do you know what year this celebration was first a holiday in Indonesia? Check out our explanation in the news entitled 'The First Time Chinese New Year Becomes a National Holiday in History'