Lake Sentani Festival to be Held to Preserve Papua's Culture

"The objective of FDS 2011 is to lift and preserve Papuan indigenous cultural values, packaged in such a way for both domestic and foreign tourists," Anna said.

Meanwhile, Yayapura district head Habel Melkias Suwae said the festival was also intended to make Jayapura district a reliable national and international tourist destination in Indonesia.

"Through the annual Lake Sentani Festival, we will introduce both domestic and foreign tourists with Jayapura district cultural potential and other tourism objects in our bid to step up tourism industrial development here," Habel said.

To reach the goal, Habel said the great annual cultural event of Lake Sentani Festival this year would be conducted with three main concepts namely performances, exhibition and tour package.

"In addition, the festival will be a perfect event for us to promote trade and investment in various sectors such as mining, forestry, fishery, agriculture, and tourism," Habel said.

He added that the festival this year was themed "Love, Peace and Harmony" as an expression of the local community’s cultural identity. From July 16 to 19 in 2008, the Papua Tourism Office organized the first Lake Sentani Festival to support the annual Lembah Baliem Festival in Jayawijaya district.

Located some 75 meters above sea level and surrounded by beautiful hills, the 3.63-hectare Lake Sentani is a perfect place for fishing, swimming, canoeing, skiing, and other kinds of water sports. Therefore, Lake Sentani Festival in 2010 which was themed "Loving Culture for Our Future" served as a year-long gateway for the tourism industry in Jayapura district specifically and in Papua province in general.