729th Anniversary Of Surabaya City, Residents Enliven The Rujak Cingur Festival From RPH

Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - In commemoration of the 729th Anniversary of the City of Surabaya (HJKS), hundreds of residents enlivened the Rujak Uleg Festival which was held along Kembang Jepun Street (Kya-kya) City of Heroes, East Java, this Sunday night, May 22.

Head of the Surabaya City Culture, Youth and Sports and Tourism (DKKORP) Office Wiwiek Widayati in Surabaya, Sunday, said the Surabaya City Government was again holding the Rujak Uleg Festival after two years of vacuum due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There are at least 700 participants who take part in the Rujak Uleg Festival," said Wiwiek Widayati.

The Rujak Uleg participants consisted of representatives of indigenous and expatriate communities, foreign students in Surabaya, and hotels. Also, there are representatives from each sub-district and Regional Apparatus (PD) within the Surabaya City Government as well as the general public.

Wiwiek explained that the festival will be opened by the Mayor of Surabaya, Eri Cahyadi. The plan is also to be attended by the Governor of East Java and the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), Regional Owned Enterprises (BUMD), and the Consulate Corps in Surabaya.

"The festival will also involve approximately 50 culinary micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the city of Surabaya. This is to make festival activities a revival of the local economy in Surabaya," said Wiwiek.

According to her, the diversity of participants and the community who attended was in line with the 729th HJKS tagline, namely "Strong Synergy for Great Surabaya". Moreover, rujak cingur has been designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia in 2021 as a food that is a symbol and characteristic of the city of Surabaya.

"The emergence of rujak cingur as people's food cannot be separated from the role of petis which is a flavor enhancer and is the basic ingredient for processed rujak cingur. In Surabaya there is a Rujak Cingur tile food stall which was established in 1938," she said.

The seriousness and patience of various stakeholders are able to maintain the taste and preserve the rujak cingur from generation to generation.

"Therefore, Rujak Cingur is designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage considering the importance of cultural heritage as a characteristic and national identity," she said.

However, she said, the emergence of Mouth and Nail Disease (FMD) in cattle, did not escape the attention of the Surabaya City Government. For this reason, the Surabaya City Government cooperates with Slaughterhouses (RPH) to ensure that all cingur used by participants is hygienic and not infected with disease.

"All participants of the Rujak Uleg Festival use cingur supplied by RPH and the quality is guaranteed," she said.