Musi River influences earlier Cap Go Meh in Palembang City

Chinese people will celebrate Cap Go Meh on the 15^th day of the Chinese calendar, as the last series of Chinese New Year celebrations. Unique to Palembang City is how the celebration will be held two days earlier on the 13^th day after Chinese New Year in Feb. 10-11, 2025. The event was held at the Kemaro Island area in 1 Ilir Village, East Ilir II District.

This earlier celebration is routinely carried out by Chinese people in Palembang. In the previous year, Cap Go Meh was held on Feb. 22, 2024, which was 12 days earlier than the Chinese New Year that fell on Feb. 10, 2024.

Hong Tiong Bio 16 Ilir Palembang Temple Deputy Chair Eko explained that the earlier celebration was related to the ebb and flow of the Musi River. That is because Kemaro Island, as the center of the Cap Go Meh celebration in Palembang City, is in the middle of Musi River.

"Every year the Musi River is receding during Cap Go Meh. Hence, the celebration is accelerated in Palembang City so that ships could dock at Kemaro Island," he elaborated on Sunday, February 9, 2025.

Eko said that the calculation for the date to hold Cap Go Meh in the city took into account the ebb and flow of Musi River so that people who comes to worship and the community who want to join the Cap Go Meh euphoria on Kemaro Island could more safely cross the pontoon bridge to the location.

"Usually, the water has receded after the 14^th (day in the Chinese calendar after its New Year) afternoon. That's why it was accelerated to the afternoon of the 13^th-14^th afternoon," he added.

In the past, said Eko, Kemaro Island had not provided a pontoon bridge like the one that has now been routinely installed during Cap Go Meh celebration in Palembang. The bridge was made so people could head to the island without having to take a boat.

Kemaro Island Management Chair Tjik Harun stated that the celebration being moved earlier is also an opportunity for religious tourism that Kemaro Island can contribute to the wider Cap Go Meh celebrations.

He added that the need to hold Cap Go Meh earlier in Palembang City is beneficial for Chinese people who come from outside the region.

"If it is one to two days earlier, tourists can come to Palembang first before celebrating in their respective places. So when Cap Go Meh [takes place where they come from], they have already arrived back home," Harun explained.

An example, said Harun, are tourists from Jambi who have usually arrived by the 10^th-11^th of the Chinese calendar (coinciding with Feb. 8-9, 2025) and booked hotel rooms.

"From here, they go straight home to celebrate again at home," he continued.

Harun explained that Cap Go Meh is actually celebrated on the 15^th because it is the time the for first full moon in the Chinese calendar.

"As we know, Chinese New Year is celebrated like Eid for Chinese people. The celebration is a form of gratitude to God. Hopefully, we will be given safety and prosperous fortune in the Year of the [Wood] Snake," he concluded.