page_title: Gambir Fair
section_title: Layout and attractions
hierarchical_section_title: Gambir Fair / Layout and attractions
caption_attribution_description: English: View over the Pasar Gambir at King's Square, Batavia Nederlands: Foto. Gezicht over de Pasar Gambir op het Koningsplein in Batavia
context_page_description: The Gambir Fair was a fair held in 1906 and yearly from 1921 until 1942 in the Koningsplein, Batavia, Dutch East Indies to celebrate the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. After the Japanese occupied the Indies, the fair was no longer held. However, after a failed attempt in 1952, in 1968 it was reinstated as the Jakarta Fair.
  Gambir Market featured hundreds of kiosks selling arts and crafts, food, and other items. It also included singing competitions, dances, and movie showings. Other activities included association football games and a lottery. Most visitors were European and ethnic Chinese, although rich natives also went.
context_section_description: Gambir Market was held in Koningsplein, Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Merdeka Square, Jakarta, Indonesia); this was a part of Gambir subdistrict, which lent the fair its name. The front gate, which was located on the north side of Daanhole Street (now Sabang Street), was made of bamboo and wood, roofed with True Sago Palm leaves, and served as a ticket booth. The gate's architectural style differed every year, although it was generally modeled on traditional Indonesian buildings; the architects in charge of designing the gate often began researching the style to be used six months before the event.
  The fairgrounds, which included its own police station, was surrounded by a 2-metre (6.6 ft) high wooden fence. Just inside the front gate were flowers, benches, and fences for resting. Further back were open and covered stalls, made of the same material as the gates; there were often more than 200 stalls open. The open stalls were generally used for photographic exhibitions and the sale of arts and crafts from throughout the archipelago and imported goods, while the covered stalls — which charged an additional entrance fee — featured various attractions, including movies, magic shows, a dancing hall, and a lottery. Government stalls included book exhibitions from the state-owned publisher Balai Pustaka and information on the oil industry from Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij.
  At the centre of the complex, a large restaurant exclusively for Dutch patrons was established. This restaurant sold alcohol and European food. Other ethnic groups ate from food kiosks scattered throughout the square, which sold snacks from different parts of the Indies.
  The fair featured petasan (local fireworks) on three occasions: at its beginning, on Wilhelmina's birthday, and at the end. Outside the front gate, street sellers from throughout Batavia laid down sheets and sold their wares.
  Artistic performances were also common. Initially, art shows were held by Dutchmen and other Europeans. However, beginning in 1937 traditional Indonesian art forms such as dance, wayang wong, and ketoprak. Other activities available included association football during daytime hours and singing and keroncong competitions at night.
caption: Fairgrounds, 1925
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