Poso Kawaninya Festival: Celebrating the Total Solar Eclipse

Highlighting the extremely rare phenomenon of the Total Solar Eclipse which will be clearly visible in many parts of the Indonesian Archipelago, the town of Poso in Central Sulawesi Province will stage the Kawaninya Festival on 8th to 9th March 2016. Adding excitement to the total solar eclipse which will take place on 9thMarch 2016, the festival is aimed to provide entertainment as well as introduce the regency’s tourist attractions to both international and domestic tourists who are here especially to observe this exceptional phenomenon.

Here, the total solar eclipse observation will be centered at Kalora Village, Poso Pesisir Utara district, about 40Km north from the center of the city. The village has been chosen as the best observation point  here following a survey conducted by the team from Bandung’s Institute of Technology (ITB) and the Mosintuwu Poso Institute. During the precise moment of the eclipse, the area will be engulfed in total darkness for 2 minutes and 40 seconds starting at 08.38 Central Indonesia time.

The event will also be attended by 15 lecturers from Bandung’s Institute of Technology who will also bring with them complete professional equipment to follow the tract of the eclipse. The total solar eclipse will also be broadcast live on television nationwide by Indonesia’s chief TV channels which will feature expert opinion given by the lecturers.

Those who wish to observe the phenomenon in Poso will also be provided with special eclipse sun glasses, for which the organizing committee has prepared about 5,000 sunglasses.

The two days festival itself will feature a variety of traditional dance and music performances from some of the finest local artists. On the evening of 8th March, there will also be a special presentation of outer space observation through telescopes provided by experts from the Bandung’s Institute of Technology.

Poso is not the only spot to observe the total solar eclipse in Central Sulawesi Province. Other observational points are also set up in the province’s capital city of Palu, Parigi, Tojo Una-una, and Banggai. Currently, it is recorded that there are at least 10,000 people have who already made reservations to observe this spectacular phenomenon in Central Sulawesi.