Government Holds National Lunar New Year Festival with Free Film Screenings and Health Checks

The government held the National Lunar New Year Festival at Lapangan Banteng, Central Jakarta. The inaugural festival offered a range of attractions including arts performances, film screenings, and government programmes such as free health checks.

“There are two Indonesian films — you may have noticed Jumbo here. Over there, two films set for release during Lebaran this year: Nawila for children and the animated film Pelangi di Mars,” said Deputy Minister of Creative Economy and committee chairperson Irene Umar to reporters at the venue on Sunday (22/2/2026).

“There is also one thing I almost forgot. Over there is a priority government programme, which is the free health check. So everyone, especially those here, please look after your health too. You can go straight there with your national identity card — the health checks are free and not superficial. They include breast ultrasounds and cervical screenings. So it’s not just surface-level checks,” she continued.

Irene added that the event, themed Harmoni Imlek Nusantara (Lunar New Year Harmony of the Archipelago), also featured an open museum serving as an educational platform on the cultural integration between Chinese and Indonesian communities.

“Because many people wonder whether Chinese-Indonesians are truly Indonesian. The name itself is Cindo: Cinta Indonesia — Love Indonesia,” she explained.

Irene noted that the festival also showcased a variety of SME culinary offerings and arts performances. The public was welcome to attend entirely free of charge.

“You can start at the open museum, then move over here to our SME food and beverage festival. Then there are non-food-and-beverage stalls over there. And there are two stages, outdoor and indoor, because we want to show that Indonesia has both outdoor and indoor offerings,” she said.