Traditional musician: La Made from Wakantolalo, Southeast Sulawesi, plays the gambus guitar at the cultural fiesta.This week the Southeast Sulawesi port city of Bau-Bau hosted the biannual Festival Kraton Nusantara.



To kick off the event, young ladies of the one-time Butonese kingdom of Wolio welcomed the 60 plus visiting royal families last Saturday with a traditional feast called pekakandekanden, meaning “eat and eat” in the local dialect.



And the row upon row of picnic blankets laid deep in platters of traditional Butonese dishes including curried crab and eggs, sweet onde-onde and lapapa (red and white rice steamed in banana leaves) were invitation enough to join in the celebration.



Ready to save: A Butonese Palace guard leads the royal procession.As per Butonese tradition, the ladies, dressed in chiffon, velvet and silk, served the grand homemade buffets fr...