Dieng Culture Festival as a Reinforcement of Local Cultures in Globalization Era

Abstrak

Dieng Culture Festival (DCF) is an event that offers a variety of traditional arts
initiated with performance of Kuda Lumping (leathered horse dance), Rampakyaso
Dance, Wayang (shadow puppet), and finalized with dreadlock hair cutting
traditional ceremony. Local wisdom in Dieng plateau is closely related to the local
wisdom which is associated to God through a range of traditional ceremonies
available (Suyatno, 2011).
The unique and varied cultures in Dieng certainly become pride and challenge that
must be faced in order to maintain the cultures and inherit them for the next
generation. Thus, the rapid changes and development of this era also result in
changes on people’s life into a more modern way. Therefore, people tend to choose
new culture for it is considered more practical than the local one (Effendi, 2017).
DCF aims the construction of new concept which is the acculturation of culture and
natural tourist destination. Its missions include the enhancement of economic level
of local people, preservation of Dieng cultures, and information spread about local
cultures and customs in Dieng into broader community. This should be able to
distribute the attractiveness in Dieng to potential visitors both local and
international. Moreover, DCF is well-scheduled and published through any media
(printed, sites, or social media). The event involves modern arts and music (Jazz
and lantern festival) that attract more visitors to come (Diengnesia, 2017).
Hence, this writing is descriptive analytics and discusses the purpose of Dieng
Culture Festival as an encouragement towards local or traditional cultures through
culture preservation as an effort to maintain Dieng’s identity in this rapid
development in technology and modern world. The outcome of this research
includes the description on how DCF could be an essential magnet to attract more
visitors so they can learn Dieng and its cultures deeply.
Keywords: Dieng, Dieng Culture Festivals, local cultures, tourists