Solo Batik Carnival

Solo Batik Carnival is an annual event exposing batik as the main material in creating presented costumes. Solo, once in the past the capital of Surakarta Hadiningrat empire, is one of the most important roots from where the culture of batik starts. As on of an important cultural heritage passed along generations for centuries, batik is among a few cultural heritage which remains well preserved until now.

In effort to maintain or even improve popularity of batik both nationwide as well as worldwide, Solo Batik Carnival is conducted every year since 2008. The latest event was organized by Solo Center Point Foundation in collaboration with the city government of Surakarta, the official name of Solo. Continue reading

Pasar Klewer

Known as the largest batik market in Indonesia, Pasar Klewer is not to be missed out in your Solo tour itinerary, especially those addicted to shopping. Wide range of batik products are available here at Pasar Klewer, from cotton stamp batik priced at only a few bucks to hand painted silk batik priced more than a grand.

The history noted that during the colonial age, Pasar Klewer is a train stopover station. Crowd of passengers attracted merchants to offer various goods, the area surrounding the train station then grew into a marketplace known Pasar Slompretan. The name “slompratan” – in Javanese mean trumpet – comes from the train horn which to people ears sounded like trumpet. Continue reading