When the Entertainment Stage Forgets Boundaries
On Saturday night, 9 August 2026, a scene captured at The Sounds Project music festival in Ancol, North Jakarta, rapidly spread across social media. Amidst the festival’s revelry, a brand activation booth challenged attendees: recite Surah Ad-Dhuha and receive a free bottle of alcohol. A participant stepped forward, recited the verses into a microphone to the applause of the crowd, and claimed the drink. Four days later, the Jakarta Metropolitan Police named four suspects in a blasphemy case, including the participant who recited the verse. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a strong condemnation, and legal experts clarified that this was a public order offence, not a private complaint, as the act insulted a public religious interest.
The incident is not an isolated lapse but a symptom of a dangerous blind spot within the country’s booming entertainment industry. As Indonesia’s festival scene grows, brand activations are pushed to be ever more creative to capture attention, often without adequate consideration of social and cultural context. The problem arises when creativity is pursued in a vacuum, treating religious sensitivity as a barrier to be ignored for the sake of novelty rather than a fundamental aspect of the social fabric. The Surah Ad-Dhuha is a deeply personal and spiritual text for millions of Muslims, and its use as a gimmick to promote alcohol represents a profound failure of judgment.
This case demands a broader institutional response beyond the courtroom. Event organisers must establish serious content review mechanisms that go beyond aesthetics and security to include socio-religious sensitivity. Brands must understand that viral controversy of this nature never ends well, causing lasting reputational damage. The four suspects now face legal proceedings, but the festival industry continues. The question of how entertainment and religious sensitivity can coexist more maturely in Indonesia remains unanswered, waiting for a more serious commitment from all stakeholders than has been shown before.