The Salo Karajae Festival, which has just ended, has successfully stimulated the economy of Parepare City and its surroundings. The festival with maritime and cultural nuances for five days (September 27th, 2022 to October 1st, 2022) successfully recorded transactions, especially in the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector reaching IDR 1.9 billion. On the last day of closing, on October 1st, visitors who came to the festival arena at Tonrangeng River Side Tourism Area, Lumpue Village, West Bacukiki District, Parepare, reached 14,240 people, with 5,253 male visitors, 5,832 women, and 3,155 children. It was the highest number of visitors during the five days of the festival. Of the number of visitors during the first four days, if averaged in a day, the Salo Karajae Festival is visited by more than 6,000 people.
The number of visitors who came is in line with the Teori Telapak Kaki (Footprint Theory) of the Mayor of Parepare, Dr. HM Taufan Pawe, which means presenting a magnet that attracts many people or many feet come to Parepare. This was revealed by the Deputy Mayor of Parepare, H Pangerang Rahim who was present to represent the Mayor of Parepare at the closing of the festival, Saturday (1/10/2022). Pangerang said that the government and the community wanted Parepare to be more than just a transit city. However, it can be a destination city and has a magnet, so visitors from outside the area are attracted to come to Parepare. Salo Karajae Festival is one of the works which can attract tourists to visit Parepare which makes Parepare accessible to the eyes of the world and foreign tourists can get to know more about the tourism potential in Parepare. “So we can continue to implement the Mayor of Parepare’s Teori Telapak Kaki strategic program,” hoped Pangerang.
At the opening of the festival, the Mayor of Parepare, Taufan Pawe emphasized that the Salo Karajae Festival, which is included in the Kharisma Event Nusantara of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, can encourage economic recovery, with the economic locomotive will grow and tourism will grow. "Tourism will bring fresh air in driving the economy of the City of Parepare," said Taufan Pawe as Mayor of Parepare. The opening of the festival was attended by the Expert Staff of the Minister for Bureaucratic Reform of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Kurleni Ukar, and the Head of the Culture and Tourism Office of South Sulawesi Province, Prof. Muhammad Jufri. It was also entertained by singer Jaz Hayat who is popular with his song titled "Kasmaran". The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, in a virtual meeting specifically appreciated and congratulated the successful implementation of the Salo Karajae Festival, which became the largest maritime and cultural festival in South Sulawesi. This year's Salo Karajae Festival was enlivened by a variety of unique, interesting, and creative activities. These activities include Salo Karajae Water Projection-Mapping, fireworks parties, decorative boat competitions, folk song singing competitions, dance creations, and various other creative activities. Including something unique, namely the mallipa festival and the mappadendang dance competition, which requires festival visitors to wear sarongs (lipa) on Saturday, October 1st, 2022.
