Starting today until Saturday (3-5 November 2022), residents of Komodo Island Village, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province are holding a Komodo Festival event. Universitas Indonesia (UI) through Faculty of Humanities (FIB) initiated this event by contributing to the empowerment of local communities. They received training for welcoming and providing the best service for tourists visiting the island, especially in the international class event “Komodo Culture Festival”.
This event aims at introducing Komodo village as a cultural tourist village in the Komodo National Park area. As a cultural tourist village, Komodo village has and preserves hundreds of folklores that are still being told by its people. One of the legends that greatly influences the mindset, lifestyle, and is still believed by the people of Komodo village is about the origin of their existence.
In the story, a woman gave birth to twins, one in human form and the other in the form of a komodo dragon. These twins continue to produce offspring on the island. Although they are different in appearance, they take care of each other and cannot be separated from each other. This is proven by the fact that to this day they can coexist harmoniously.
The establishment of Labuan Bajo as a super priority tourism destination (DPSP) will certainly have impacts on the economy of the surrounding community. One of which is the Komodo Village community, which since 2013 has been designated as a tourist village. This moment is well comprehended by Head of Komodo Village H. Aksan.
“We are very grateful that in the midst of our efforts to develop the village tourism, the Universitas Indonesia community service team was present to assist us in preparing and carrying out Komodo Culture Festival. This activity is our effort to bring back the traditions and culture as well as the economy of the Komodo Village community,” he said.
The UI community service in Komodo Village was carried out by a team from Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia (FIB UI). The team consisted of Dr. Bondan Kanumoyoso, M. Hum., Dr. Taufik Asmiyanto, M. Si., Dr. Hendra Kaprisma, S. Hum., Murni Wudyastuti, M. Hum., and Dwi Kristianto, S. Hut, M. Kesos. The team assisted in planning, preparation, and implementation of the international-class cultural event, the 2022 Komodo Culture Festival.
The representative of the team, Dr. Bondan Kanumoyoso, M. Hum., who currently hold the position as the dean of FIB UI said, “The implementation of cultural festival activities under the name Komodo Culture Festival aims to promote and develop tourism in the West Manggarai region. It is hoped that the Komodo Culture Festival can become an annual festival so that it can continue to promote Komodo Village as a Cultural Tourism Destination. Therefore, in organizing this Festival activity, the UI Community Service Team will involve all tourism stakeholders in the Labuan Bajo area, including travel agencies, transportation and cruise ships, as well as MSMEs engaged in tourism,” he said.
Head of the Komodo National Park Office Lukita Awang Nistyantara, S. Hut., M.Sc. welcomed the mentoring program from Universitas Indonesia to organize this activity. “We feel helped by the presence of the UI Community Service Team in Komodo Village in an effort to empower rural communities through tourism activities. In my opinion, Komodo Village must continue to improve so that this village deserves the title as a cultural-based tourist village,” he said.
The Chief Executive of Komodo Culture Festival Muhammad Sidik said that the event will be held for three consecutive days, from November 3 to 5, 2022 with various activities including, 1.Ritual Ceremony of Offerings to the Ancestors of the Komodo Village Community; 2. Ethnic Parade; 3. Maritime Culture; 4. Culinary and souvenir bazaar; and 5. Live Music.
“The Ethnic Parade contains various traditional arts of the Komodo people such as, Alugere Dance, Pencak Silat, Kolo Kamba Tradition, & traditional games. While Maritime Culture contains various activities and competitions based on maritime traditions such as sailboats, kiting boat races, swimming sports at sea, and the committee also plans to hold an underwater photo competition. The festival will also be enlivened by a market where tourists will be able to enjoy various iconic culinary of Komodo Island and various original souvenirs of Komodo Island. While in the evening participants or tourists will be able to enjoy the music of some famous singers from Labuan Bajo while enjoying the beautiful panoramic view of the sea from the hill behind Komodo Village, where various series of activities will be held,” said Muhammad Sidik.
The highlight of the event is the offering ritual. There are two rituals that are usually performed by the Komodo people, namely the offering ceremony for the Komodo animals and the offering ceremony to the ancestors of the Komodo people. The offering ceremony for Komodo Island is a thanksgiving and prayer to Allah SWT that they have been born twins with Komodo animals.
Amelita Lusia, Head of Public Relations and Public Information Disclosure Bureau of UI who was present at the opening of Komodo Culture Festival, said that community service just like what FIB UI did was a form of social contribution and a form of scientific implementation from the UI academic community.
