In The Near Future, Yogyakarta Will Hold A Young Dalang Festival

Illustration - Festival of puppeteers of children and youth in Yogyakarta City (ANTARA/HO-Yogyakarta City Culture Office)

YOGYAKARTA - The Department of Culture (Kundha Kakulturn) of Yogyakarta will soon hold a special puppeteer (dalang) festival for children and teenagers.

This is an effort by the local government to regenerate puppetry artists so that the art continues to grow and develop in the community.

"This activity is specifically for children and youth from the city of Yogyakarta," said Head of the Yogyakarta City Culture Service Yetti Martanti in Yogyakarta, as reported by Antara, Sunday, May 22.

According to him, the festival for children and youth puppeteers is aimed at motivating, generating creativity and the young generation's love for the art of puppetry at this time, so that new puppeteers will emerge who are ready to preserve the art.

The activity will be held for two days on June 6-7 at nDalem Ngabean in the Kraton District offline with the implementation of health protocols to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

The quota of participants is limited to 10 child puppeteers each, namely 8-15 years old and teenage puppeteers or 16-20 years old.

Children and teenagers from the City of Yogyakarta can register online by filling out the google form link https://bit.ly/3M6nKhV or scanning the QR Code on the Instagram of the Yogyakarta City Culture Office. Registration is open until May 31.

When registering, prospective participants are also required to include a link to the Google Drive video for a simple puppet show with a duration of 5-10 minutes.

"This video will be the initial selection of participants and participants who pass will be contacted by the committee on June 1," he said.

In the festival, five winners will be selected for each category and each winner will receive an award and coaching money.

The first winner gets IDR 5 million, the second IDR 4.5 million, the third IDR 4 million, the fourth IDR 3.5 million, and the fifth winner IDR 3 million.

The child and teenage puppeteers who won will represent the City of Yogyakarta at the same festival at the DIY provincial level.