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Imagine the wonderful sensation of being caressed by mother nature while enjoying some cool and romantic music at a festival. The pine forest of Grafika Cikole in Lembang near the city of Bandung, West Java was the site where The Group, the event organizer, introduced the LALALA Festival, the first ever International Forest Festival in Indonesia, held on Saturday, 5 November 2016. Here you could feel the cool breeze touch your skin once you entered the venue.
Hundreds of people were present, looking forward to their favourite artists perform. The event was divided into three stages: the Nature Stage, the Future Stage and the Lalala Stage. Despite the muddy and slippery grounds caused by heavy rains during the day, yet everyone seemed to have had great fun with their friends or lovers, exploring the many booths selling a variety of items in the festival.
Situated in Bandung’s pine forest with attractive natural surroundings and a back to nature concept, the LALALA Festival provided the best entertainment that every nature lover could wish. Performing live in the middle of the woods were Kodaline, Keith Ape, Jasmine Thompson, MYMP, Maliq & D’Essentials, Kimokal, Teza Sumendra, Payung Teduh and many more Indonesian and international artists.
MYMP, an accoustic band from the Philippines, successfully created a romantic aura in the midst of the pine forest when they played: Especially for You, a song once performed by Australian recording artists Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan.
The most anticipated artists at the LALALA Festival were Kodaline, Jasmine Thompson, MYMP, Payung Teduh, and Maliq & D’Essentials since the place was packed when they were about to appear on stage.
The pinnacle of the event was Kodaline, an Irish rock band comprising Steve Garrigan (vocal & guitar), Vincent “Vinny” May, Jr (drums), Jason Boland (bass guitar) and Mark Prendergast (on guitar). Their appearance at the LALALA Festival was their first concert in Indonesia, which according to Kodaline official twitter account was: an incredible show! The audience sang along with Steve Garrigan, the vocalist, in almost all songs including those from their album “In a Perfect World”, that included High Hopes and Love Like This. Their magnetic performance was closed with All I Want, the song that was asked by the audience for an encore. All I Want was featured in season 9 episode on the American drama series: Grey’s Anatomy.
Through this Festival, the event organizer supported a campaign called #GoodFestival to educate people on the importance of contributing to a healthy and clean festival by adhering to some rules, like to meticulously throwing trash in garbage bins provided, minimizing the use of plastic bags, and attending the LALALA Festival using public transport. Before the day of the festival, the event organizer also announced a list of prohibited items to be carried along to the festival, such as flammable items and fireworks since this was a forest festival.
The event venue, Grafika Cikole, is the perfect place for those who wish to have an authentic and glamorous yet classic camping experience, ensured with the comfort of modern facilities. All tents here come with sleeping bags, electricity, firewood and a supply of corncobs. Check out on glamor camping or glamping at Grafika Cikole and others glamping sites in Bandung here.
Having experienced this fantastic first Festival, all could not wait for the next Forest Festival to be held again in Bandung next year.
