Biggest Culture Festival to Be Held in Ciamis, West Java

Biggest Culture Festival to Be Held in Ciamis, West Java

"Pesona Galuh Nagari 2017," claimed to be the biggest festival of traditional culture in Indonesia, will be held in Ciamis, West Java, from May 19 to May 25.

The Tourism Ministry said in a statement on Friday (12/05) the festival will last for a whole week and feature six traditional ceremonies in different villages.

One of them is the “Misalin” ceremony — literally, “changing outfits” — which will be held in a village called Cimaragas. This will involve a series of rituals, including cleaning the tombs of ancestors, a mass prayer and a performance of dance and traditional music featuring the Sundanese kecapi (lute), suling (flute) and kendang (drums).

Misalin is held just before the fasting month of Ramadhan to symbolize Muslims’ desire to transform themselves by abandoning their bad habits during the holy month.

The festival will feature many other attractions including a comedy sketch featuring dancers and sinden (female singers), a scarecrow exhibition and a pencak silat(traditional martial arts) performance.

Tourism Ministry deputy for tourism development Esthy Reko Astuti said the festival will introduce Ciamis as a tradition-rich tourist destination.

“Ciamis has a lot of potential for cultural tourism. It also has great natural beauty, and the food is excellent,” Esthy said.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya praised the initiative to highlight traditional rituals in a festival that will attract a lot of tourists to the area.

“I am proud to see how traditions [in Ciamis] have been so carefully preserved. Sixty percent of tourists come to a destination because of the local culture, so this festival will stand Ciamis in good stead,” Arief said.

Source : jakartaglobe.id & http://westjavatourismboard.info/biggest-culture-festival-held-ciamis-west-java/