Dia de Muertos

PH | JANIS

Hi lovers! On Saturday, December 7th, my cousins had their birthday together and after that, Mba Dania, Trista and I went to Senayan for Djaksphere's Joyland Festival. The traffic was upsetting! We were stuck for 3 and a half hours on the road, so we decided to walk around the sport stadium to the park where Joyland was held. There were more than five events held in one area so the traffic was insane! But when we got inside the swimming pool and onto the park, it was quiet and you wouldn't know there was traffic going on.

We arrived at 7 pm, so we missed White Shoes and The Couples Company, but we watched Banda NeiraLuky AnnashRock n Roll MafiaDialog Dini Hari, and last one, The Trees and The Wild. Joyland held some independent movies as well. I watched three of them which are: Percakapan Ini, Mamalia and Hulahoop Soundings.

When I arrived, the entry was decorated with one huge beautiful skull above us. And inside, there were colourful streamers and a statue of a lady skeleton decorated with colours. There were pineapple hangings as well, and everything was so deadly and colourful. Then it came to me, Joyland was (i think) doing the Día de Muertos theme, which means The Day of The Dead in english. It's a Mexican holiday to remember the ones who passed away earlier. The decorations were beautiful, I was in love! 

Out of all the performances I watched, my favourite this time was Rock n Roll Mafia. Their performance was stunning and entertaining. Luky Annash's performance was very emotional. He performed really well and all those voices so firm and loud and fun, he actually put up his right foot onto the piano. Then Banda Neira had this soothing performance which makes you want to sleep but as well you want to be awake to enjoy their sounds. Dialog Dini Hari was loved by the audience, and their music was the catchiest ones because the audience sang to most of their songs! And last but not least, The Trees and The Wild. I don't think this was their best performance (because I've seen them better), but still, when you're watching TTATW, you can't be more awed and amazed by the energy they let out in every performance.





The indie movies were excellent. The movies I watched was apparently 18+. But even though there were some scenes that were awkward, I easily grabbed the idea and the message the director wanted to tell us. Especially in the movie Mamalia. I figured out that us humans, like animals... All we want is to survive. Therefore we would do pretty much anything to survive in this concrete jungle. Percakapan Ini was interesting. It was about two neighbours who had a conversation about marriage and after a five minute talk, the story line was reversed and it was funny. OK, honestly I didn't quiet understand what it meant by reversing the conversation. I also don't get the message from Hulahoop Soundings as well. I mean, it's obvious that guys cannot cheat on their wives, but other than that I don't really get it.

Overall, the festival was enjoyable and fun. It's such a good event to attend to when you want to get away from Jakarta's hectic activities. The location made it all enjoyable. Like what my cousin said, 
"Joyland's like a little piece of Heaven. In there, you can't even hear the cars honking at each other. It's so quiet and it's like having a little getaway."
I wanted to come again on Sunday, but there wasn't enough time. But a day in Joyland was enough for me. I wanted to celebrate the end of a tiring week, and lucky me, Joyland was there to celebrate it with me.

the one behind the screen,
janis