US EditionIndonesian child's viral fame draws tourists to boat race
The viral dance of 11-year-old Rayyan Arkan Dikha attracted an estimated 1.5 million spectators and boosted local revenue to a projected $4.6 million for the 2025 Pacu Jalur race.
- The annual Pacu Jalur boat race on Sumatra island culminated on August 24, 2025, attracting a record crowd in western Indonesia.
- Officials attributed the surge in spectators, estimated at 1.5 million, to the viral dance of 11-year-old Rayyan Arkan Dikha on the front of traditional boats.
- More than 220 teams, mostly from local villages, competed for prizes worth around 900 million rupiah , while authorities improved river cleanliness and event organisation.
- An Australian visitor said he came to record the event and share it globally, while locals expressed joy that the boy’s rising popularity attracted international attention to the race.
- Last year’s race attracted approximately 1.4 million attendees and generated upwards of $2.5 million in economic activity locally, with officials anticipating even greater revenue growth due to rising foreign and domestic interest.
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Video - One year after the dance of Rayyan Arkan Dikha, an 11-year-old Indonesian, standing at the front of boats launched at all speed, the region was waiting for significant tourist benefits.
Pacu Jalur explodes with record crowds after Indonesian boy's viral boat dance video
PEKANBARU: Armed with colourful oars, rowers pack into long boats in western Indonesia, paddling furiously in front of race crowds swelled by the viral success of a young boy famous for his dancing at the front of the traditional vessels. © New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
The Killeen Daily Herald
Indonesian child's viral fame draws tourists to boat race
Armed with colourful oars, rowers pack into long boats in western Indonesia, paddling furiously in front of race crowds swelled by the viral success of a young boy famous for his dancing at the front of the traditional vessels.
In their long boats, rowers sprang frantically in front of a crowd who came to attend the Pacu Jalur, a traditional water race in Indonesia. But this year, she experiences an exceptional influx, doped by the viral video of a young boy dancing at the...
Pekanbaru - In their long boats, rowers roamed frantically in front of a crowd who came to attend the Pacu Jalur, a traditional water race in Indonesia. But this year, it has an exceptional flood, doped by the viral video of a young boy dancing at the front of the boats. Long about a kilometer, the Pacu Jalur race is very famous in the archipelago where it was held until Sunday on the Kuantan River, in the province of Riau, in the island of Suma…
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