Ornamental Boat Parade - Aceh Culture Festival

In my previous post, I told and shared the story of an old man on his small boat who was fishing among the large boats parked. As for this occasion, I will still share images related to ships as well. The pictures below were taken about 1 month ago during the Aceh Cultural Week event organized by the Aceh Government every two years. The boats that will be in this post are taken from a side event entitled "Parade of Decorative Boats". This event took place on the Krueng Aceh River which is located around the Peunayong area, Banda Aceh - Indonesia.

There were dozens of boats decorated with various shapes, sizes, and supporting trinkets. Each boat represented a district/city in Aceh Province. The picture above belongs to the city of Banda Aceh. If I'm not mistaken, the decorations on this boat and the people on it, are made to resemble the Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho, because there is a history that mentions that this figure once came and settled in Aceh.

The next iconic ship comes from the South Aceh district. The bow of the ship with the dragon head symbol looks very striking with the green color covering the entire body of the boat. The reference to this dragon head is also a folklore that has been passed down from generation to generation by the people in South Aceh.

The next ship came from the district of Simeulue, which is one of Indonesia's outer islands. This ship is made to resemble a lobster, which is one of the leading commodities from Crimeulue and is known by people throughout Aceh and even other cities in Indonesia.

Some of the other boats seen took on modifications that I found to be too generic and did not highlight their regional characteristics at all. For example, this ship from the Pidie district seems to take reference from a galleon-type ship (CMIIW). But until now, I have never seen a ship with this model appear around the waters of the district.

Aceh Jaya district modified their boats to resemble sailing ships. I don't know exactly why they took this reference. However, it seems to be related to the sea transportation that was often used by the local community, before boats with engines were invented and commonly used as they are today.

West Aceh district also made a ship-shape that seems to be inspired by the Galleon model. But what makes it look unique is the presence of the Meukeutop kupiah which is also an icon of West Aceh Regency. This hat has meaning in every aspect. For example, the colors used in this hat imply different meanings. Red symbolizes heroism, yellow means kingdom or country, green signifies religion, black means firmness or determination, and white means purity or sincerity. In addition, each part of the hat also has a different meaning.

These two boats came from the east coast of Aceh, but I could not identify the district of origin. The boats are full of trinkets symbolizing the region, but there is nothing quite as eye-catching as the ones from South Aceh or Simeulue districts.

East Aceh is an area where the decoration of the ship is very minimal in my opinion. There are no decorations wrapped around the body of the boat, only a few items placed inside the boat. These items are several types of spices such as pepper. For information, in the past, Aceh was known as one of the shipping routes for spice commodities.

The other image that I will share below is an image of the same ship with a wider perspective. The parade lasted approximately 2 hours and so many people were enthusiastic to see it. I still remember that along the riverbanks, both on the right and left sides were crowded with people of all ages. There were also people watching the show from the pedestrian bridge.

That's all the stories and pictures I can share from the experience I had while watching this event. I hope you enjoy them too, and please feel free to comment or ask any questions that may arise from the stories I've told. See you in the next post.

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All these pictures were taken using Canon SX60HS
and processed through Adobe Lightroom

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