Ministry of Tourism: Dieng Culture Festival strengthens Indonesia's tourism image
The Ministry of Tourism (Kemenpar) has identified the Dieng Culture Festival (DCF) 2026 as a strategic activity to strengthen Indonesia’s authentic tourism image while enhancing the competitiveness of destinations at a global level.
Titik Lestari, Secretary of the Deputy for Event Development at Kemenpar, said during the opening of DCF 2026 in Dieng Kulon Village, Batur District, Banjarnegara Regency, Central Java, on Friday that the festival, now held for the 16th time, draws its strength from having grown and developed from the local community.
“Making the Dieng Culture Festival the face of authentic and globally competitive Indonesian tourism,” she said.
According to her, the festival not only serves as a space to preserve and introduce cultural heritage but also delivers economic impact to the community, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
She noted that many MSMEs are participating in DCF 2026, with the number appearing greater than the data previously received by Kemenpar.
“We can see that the MSMEs selling snacks have already sold out. Hopefully the community enjoys the impact of this event,” she said.
She said Kemenpar is also promoting DCF through various promotional platforms and tourism promotion activities abroad.
Furthermore, DCF 2026 is included in the Kharisma Event Nusantara (KEN) programme and was selected as one of the ten best events in the programme.
According to her, the inclusion of DCF in the national event calendar presents an opportunity to expand the promotion of Dieng to both domestic and international tourists.
Kemenpar will also conduct a survey on the impact of DCF 2026 during the event until the third day.
The survey results will serve as evaluation material to assess the level of benefits of the event from year to year.
“We will conduct an impact survey of this event so that its benefits can later be seen from the survey data we collect,” she said.
She said Kemenpar has been supporting DCF since 2021 and hopes the collaboration can continue in the coming years with increasingly better organisation and broader impact.
According to her, strengthening programme curation, improving event governance, and more structured impact measurement are important elements in supporting the achievement of national tourism targets.
“The target of 17.6 million foreign tourist visits and 1.2 billion domestic tourist movements can be achieved, among other things, through strengthening programme curation, improving event governance, and more structured impact measurement,” she said.
Titik expressed hope that DCF 2026 will not only be an annual cultural agenda but will also strengthen Dieng’s position as a culture-based tourism destination that provides sustainable benefits for the local community.
DCF 2026 is being held from 28 to 30 August with various activities including a Coffee Festival, MSME Exhibition, Batur Sheep Festival, Jazz Atas Awan, and the Ruwatan Anak Berambut Gimbal ritual.