Ketupat Festival Celebrates Eid Celebration In Sumenep

Sumenep Regent Achmad Fauzi while attending the ketupat festival in Sumenep, East Java. (ANTARA/HO-Sumenep Regency Government)

JAKARTA - Lebaran Moments in Sumenep Regency, East Java, are not only a gathering place, but also full of strong local cultural nuances.

One form of celebration is the Ketupat Festival cultural event, which became an icon of community tradition in welcoming the day of victory with the spirit of togetherness and preservation of ancestral heritage.

This festival is organized by the Sumenep Regency Government (Pemkab) as part of an effort to introduce and preserve local culture, especially the Topak Tellasan tradition, which has been carried out for generations by the Madura community after Eid al-Fitr. The event took place lively in the Slopeng Beach area, Dasuk District, and was opened directly by the Regent of Sumenep, Achmad Fauzi Wongsojudo.

"We present this festival as a cultural education medium as well as a form of the Regency Government's commitment to making local wisdom a strength of development, especially in the tourism sector," said Regent Fauzi in his remarks.

He emphasized the importance of introducing the philosophical meaning of the Ketupat Lebaran tradition to the younger generation. According to him, this tradition is not just a culinary celebration, but also a symbol of togetherness and mutual cooperation that needs to be maintained in the midst of modernization.

This year's Ketupat Festival series not only features a variety of ketupat preparations, but also various cultural arts attractions typical of Sumenep, such as traditional fashion shows, SAronen music performances, and regional dances. One of the most anticipated moments is the procession of top lober or the procession of giant ketupat and tumpeng ketupat, as well as the exciting competition for ketupat which involves the community.

Head of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Disbudporapar) Sumenep, Mohammad Iksan, explained that this festival also held two types of competitions: the ketupat menu competition which was attended by regional apparatus representatives from four sub-districts, as well as the creation competition to assemble the ketupat form involving 120 participants.

"With the spirit of Tellasan Topak, this festival is a means to unite various levels of society, strengthen cultural identity, as well as support local tourism activities," he said.

The ketupat displayed also has various shapes, ranging from the soh (classical ketupats that are often carried on trips), to creative forms such as katotopes (horsetopes), methamphetamine, mosques, and many other variations that reflect Sumenep's creativity and cultural richness.

The Ketupat Festival 2025 is not only an entertainment for residents, but also an important milestone in the preservation of traditional-based tourism culture and promotion. Through this event, the Sumenep Regency Government hopes that Madura's cultural identity will continue to live and be widely known, both by the younger generation and tourists who come to visit.