JAKARTA - Fairy tales have long been part of a tradition close to the lives of children in Indonesia. Stories that are delivered in a simple way often contain moral messages about empathy, gratitude, and concern for others.
It is no wonder that storytelling activities are often used as a means of education as well as entertainment, especially in moments of togetherness such as Ramadan.
This spirit is also visible in a number of activities held by McDonald's Indonesia during Ramadan this year. Entering its 35th year of journey in the country, the fast food restaurant presents a series of programs that focus on togetherness, education, and social activities for the community.
"This 35-year momentum is a reflection of our journey growing together with the Indonesian people. Ramadan has always been a space to present a warmer and meaningful experience, both through menu innovations and programs that foster a sense of concern," said Associate Director of Marketing McDonald's Indonesia, Caroline Kurniadjaja in a press conference in Jakarta, recently.
One of them is the Ramadan Fairy Tale Safari (SADORA), a program that has been running since 2003. This activity presents an interactive fairy tale session for children with educational messages delivered before breaking the fast.
This year, the program has been expanded to reach 51 regencies/cities in 19 provinces in Indonesia. The activity took place from February 26 to March 15, 2026 and is open to the public.
In addition to the storytelling session, several activities also involve orphan children who were invited to attend the event, break the fast together, and receive allowances.
The fairy tale theme raised this year focuses on the value of kindness and concern for fellow living beings. The story conveyed is expected to help children understand the importance of empathy, responsibility, and gratitude from an early age.
This activity is also equipped with a parenting seminar aimed at parents. The seminar discusses parenting approaches that can help instill positive values in children.
Child development psychologist, Nisfie Hoesein, assessed that storytelling activities can be an effective way to build emotional closeness between children and parents.
"Storytelling is an effective method to build emotional involvement for children while encouraging their imagination. The values of empathy, gratitude, concern, and responsibility can also be instilled early without seeming condescending," he said.
Exciting activities during RamadanIn addition to presenting fairy tales, a number of other activities were also held to strengthen interaction with communities and the public.
One of them is an open house activity involving various groups, ranging from customers, communities, children from orphanages, the elderly from nursing homes, to supplier partners. This event is scheduled to take place on March 26-30, 2026 at several restaurants in Jakarta, West Java, East Java, Riau, and Makassar.
In this activity, participants not only gather and break the fast together, but also can display various art performances.
There are also activities for breaking the fast together that are packaged with entertainment such as stand-up comedy and short lectures (kultum) at a number of restaurants in the Jakarta, South Tangerang, and Bekasi regions.
The Ramadan program also involves partners of delivery service drivers. Through the activity of sharing fasting breaking meal packages, thousands of packages of uduk rice and drinks were distributed to drivers who were on duty in the field.
The series of activities will be closed with a halalbihalal event involving driver partners in a number of cities in Indonesia.
The typical taste of chicken curryIn addition to social and community activities, this year's Ramadan is also marked by the return of a seasonal menu inspired by the taste of Nusantara, namely Ayam Gulai. The menu is now served with additional perkedel as a complement.
McDonald's Indonesia Menu Development Manager, Eko Purwanto, said the inspiration for this menu came from home cooking that is familiar to the Indonesian people.
"Chicken curry always gets a positive response from customers because it presents a taste that reminds us of home cooking. This year we are bringing it back," he said.
In addition, the gulain chicken also comes with a new complement of dishes in the form of potato perkedel which is obtained from the Dieng area, Central Java.
"Not only potatoes, most of the raw materials come from domestic suppliers, including chickens from local farmers, potatoes from the Dieng area, and the sauce for the gulainya sauce we also produce in Cikarang," concluded Eko.
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