West Kalimantan Traditional Games Festival Strengthens Culture and Fitness
Pontianak (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Community Recreation Sports Committee, along with various cultural and community sports groups, held the Harmony in Motion West Kalimantan Traditional Games Festival as a multicultural education platform on the grounds of the West Kalimantan Provincial Museum.
“Children today need to be given space for fun activities so that they want to move and exercise, therefore traditional sports must be packaged as attractively as possible. If it is interesting, they will participate and want to be actively involved, so their body health remains maintained,” said the Regional Secretary of West Kalimantan Province, Harisson, when opening the West Kalimantan Traditional Games Festival in Pontianak, Sunday.
The festival presented various traditional games and sports as a means of cultural education while encouraging people to adopt a healthy lifestyle through physical activity based on local culture.
According to him, traditional games are not only part of the regional cultural heritage but also have great benefits in building togetherness, strengthening social relationships, and maintaining public health.
“These traditional games contain values of togetherness, mutual assistance, joy, as well as good physical activity for the body. So, it’s not just culture that is preserved, but also the health of the community is maintained,” he said.
He appreciated all parties who supported the implementation of the festival, including the Cultural Preservation Center and those who provided support through the Indonesiana Fund program, so that cultural and community sports activities can continue to develop in West Kalimantan.
Harisson assessed that the traditional games festival also has great potential as a means of multicultural education because it is able to bring together various groups of people without distinguishing between cultural or social backgrounds.
“West Kalimantan is rich in culture and diversity. This kind of festival can be a good space to strengthen community unity through sports and culture. Everyone can gather, play, have fun and get to know each other,” he said.
“If we don’t preserve our own culture, who else will? I hope that young people will increasingly recognize the traditional games of their own region and be proud of West Kalimantan culture,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Committee, Rubiyanto, said that the festival was held as a form of joint commitment to preserving traditional games while introducing community sports to the younger generation.
“This festival is not just an entertainment activity, but also part of an effort to maintain the cultural identity of the West Kalimantan community. We want young people to know, love and participate in preserving the traditional games that we have,” he said.
According to him, traditional games also contain values of character education, sportsmanship, and togetherness which are important to be passed on to future generations.
“Traditional games teach cooperation, agility, honesty and togetherness. These values are very important to continue to be instilled in the younger generation,” he said.
Rubiyanto appreciated the enthusiasm of the community who still attended and were directly involved in the festival even though it had rained lightly.
“This indicates that love for local culture is still very strong. We hope that activities like this can continue and become a regular agenda,” he said.
The festival introduced a number of traditional games and sports typical of the region, such as spinning top, blowpipe, traditional archery, slingshot, rompak, henggerang, to galahadang.
Rubiyanto added that there are still many West Kalimantan traditional games that need to be introduced to the wider community through cultural activities involving direct community participation.
“Through this festival we want to present a space for togetherness that is healthy, fun and full of cultural spirit. Hopefully the community will increasingly love traditional sports and their own regional culture,” he said.
The event was enlivened with the sounding of a gong and followed by a joint jepin dance involving students, community sports groups, and a number of sports organizations under the auspices of Kormi West Kalimantan.