YSU international students joined the ‘Dewi Sri Festival’ in Plumbungan Village at Gunungkidul, the southern region in Yogyakarta. The festival is an annual collaboration of Plumbungan Village Youth Organization and Yogyakarta State University, supported by the local government of Gunungkidul Regency and the District Officials. The festival includes bazaar, charity, traditional competitions related to farming, culinary exhibitions from local produce, and cultural performances.
The students joined the locals in a parade of ‘Dewi Sri’ legend casts (Goddess of Rice), mountain-like crops arrangements, traditional snacks, miniatures of livestock, traditional grinding tools and singing called ‘Gejog Lesung’, and people with Javanese traditional costumes.
Students joining this event are currently studying in YSU for their masters’ programs, credits transfer, and/or learning Indonesian Language and Culture. Among the students are awardees of Developing Countries Partnership Program Scholarship (DCPPS-Masters’ Program) and Darmasiswa RI Scholarship.
“Lots of arts and cultural perfomances to see here,” said Yanja from Madagascar who is currently enrolled in YSU graduate school.Yanja and other DCPPS students wore their batik for the parade.
The parade was started with a traditional rice harvest ceremony called ‘wiwit’ which means to begin harvesting the rice crop. The parade participants walked from the western part of Plumbungan Village to the Village Hall for about 1 kilometer. Ivan, a Darmasiswa Scholarship student from Spain wore a traditional hat like most of the participants. The hat is is called ‘caping’, a Javanese farmer hat.
After they arrived at the village hall, they got the chance to see many cultural performances and enjoy a traditional drink and snacks such as boiled peanuts, boiled bananas, ‘stewed rice cake’, and seasonal fruits.
This was the second time of YSU international students’ participation in the festival. This annual festival has been part of international students activities to get involved in preserving the local cultures.