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The 2017 Pesona Teluk Tomini (Tomini Bay Charms) Festival that was
held in Parigi Moutong regency, Central Sulawesi, came to an end on
Sunday.
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The nine-day festival that kicked off on April 1 started with an
international marathon, the Equator 10km, which was participated in by
runners from three countries. A Kenyan took first place in the
competition.
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Apart from the marathon, the event also featured music performances, a
beauty pageant, a craft exhibition, a painting competition and a
culinary festival.
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One of the highlighted cuisines during the festival was lalampa,
a traditional delicacy made of glutinous rice filled with cakalang fish
filling and wrapped in banana leaf. Last year, this dish broke an
Indonesia Museum of Records (MURI) record for having the largest number
of participants cooking it.
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“The aim of this event is to showcase how the Equator monument was
used for an international marathon. Hopefully the participants would
tell how wonderful the monument is when they go back to their respective
countries,” said Parigi Moutong Regent Samsurizal Tombolotutu.
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During the festival, the regent also commemorated the departure of
several traditional sailboats from Moutong district and their arrival at
Kayu Bura Beach, the venue for the festival’s finale. At the closing
event, which was supported by the Tourism Ministry, a fashion carnival
was held and attended by 100 participants, including foreign visitors.
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Parigi Moutong Tourism Agency head Hamka Lagala said that the region
welcomed a total of 383,587 domestic and 3,432 foreign visitors last
year. This year, it has set a target to attract at least 400,000
domestic and 5,000 foreign tourists.
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Source - TheJakartaPost
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