Review: Lalala Festival, The First Forest Festival Experience in Indonesia
Lalala Festival, the first International forest festival was finally held in Pine Forest, Cikole, Lembang last Saturday (11/5). With its line up, of course we had built “high hopes” to see Kodaline and the other artists performing in the middle of forest surrounded by tall trees and breathtaking scenery. Unfortunately, things did not went that smoothly. Many people were disappointed by the situation they faced at the festival. As the schedule said, the gate opened at midday and started by Teza Sumendra’s charming performance on Lalala stage. However, rain fell down rapidly and messed up the planned schedule. The crew of the festival couldn’t help to suspend the run down because of the weather, they seemed overwhelmed in handling both internal and external problems at the venue. Despite the heavy rain, they still lack of coordination, security and quality control. The setback was getting harder as there were also some technical problems for the sound system; the traffic jam around the venue and the extremely long shuttle accommodation. Festivalgoers who bough the tent package seemed upset about the real condition of the facility and the cashless system that was applied on the festival went through some errors, so some people were disappointed about it.
Other than those mishaps, the concept of Lalala Fest was tremendously good. The decoration successfully set the forest party ambience up – starting from the hammock until the hanged round lights that could light up our selfie taken pictures in the dark. Some booths that provided food, goods, and entertainment were also there. We could enjoy tasty beverage and food, play fun games, observe some arts and its creation process, and drink beer. It really was a party for millennials like us who wanted to celebrate music among the forest breeze. People also wore ethnic headdress and bohemian outfits to match the festival’s theme.
Unluckily, they forgot one of the most important things at the venue. A map. A printed map in the form of banner or handout would tremendeously help our festival experience since the internet connection was not that good there. We wandered around and had to ask the clueless staffs for direction (which sometimes did not help at all).The audience who had no experience on hiking or outdoor activities seemed to be taken aback by the venue’s muddy terrain and inclined paths. They didn’t prepare themselves and didn’t expect it. Well, forest festival 101, if you don’t have adventurous spirit, don’t bother to go.
Enough with the uncomfortable situations, let’s move on to how wonderful the artists’ performances were. Interestingly, there were also unique collaborations from Bottlesmoker, Wanggi Hoed (pantomime) Permata Rahardja (body movement artist), Galuh Pangestri (contemporary dance), ORCY WORLD (mural and body movement artist), and Robot Karet (contemporary dance). Although the performances were not on time, we had to give a big applause for the set and sound quality, we were entertained by our beloved artists’ performances. Due to technical problems, sadly Isyana Sarasvati couldn’t be there, yet the other local acts including Float, TROU, Mustache & Beard, Playfvl Cab, DJ Ninda Felina, Onar, and the others were there to cheer us up.
The evening show was then delighted by the presence of HMGNC and MYMP, as the sky got dark, the crowd kept coming to watch the eminent Payung Teduh in the Future Stage. Meanwhile on the Lalala stage, magical performances happened. Local stars, Kimokal and Maliq & D’essentials put the spectators in awe. Jasmine Thompson with her charm and amazing voice also successfully enchanted us, especially with the two bomb songs, “Adore” and “Ain’t Nobody”. Furthermore, Korean rapper, Keith Ape lit the stage up with his “It G Ma”. The other International acts like Bag Raiders, Weeked, Naxxos also nailed their performances. Last but not least, the awaited Irish group, Kodaline, finally paid off our struggle throughout the day. Just by remembering how beautiful it was – to sing your favorite songs along in a sea of people in the midnight accompanied by forest winds – gives us chill. It seemed like Kodaline had successfully made the audience’s heart “feel like it summer when the rain is pouring down”.
Despite everything that has going on, Lalala Festival has given us good performance, great view, and dreamlike ambience. THE Group as Lalala Fest organizer also have sent their apology to the audience, and they also provide full refund for the credit balance that is still stored on the audience’s wristband and those who have bought the tent package. Yes, there are a lot of things to be improved for the next occassion, but as Keenan Pearce’s comment, “It’s all gwooooood!”. Thank you for the memorable day, we absolutely will see you next year Lalala Festival! (P.s.: Don’t hold the fest in rainy season again, okay?)
More info about the refund : www.lalalafest.com
Writer : Rima Ramadhani / Pic credit : THE Group
