Batu Belubang – Batu Belubang Cultural Fest as a series of Regional Cultural Week of Bangka Belitung (Babel) 2023 is officially begun.
Malay traditional game such as metet (catapult), pangkak igik karet (traditional game of Bangka using rubber seed), and ngeremis (catching sand dwelling bivalve) started the fest on Tapak Antu, Batu Belubang village, Bangka tengah regency.
The head of the culture division of the provincial Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports office, Agus Setio Rini, officially opened the fest together with the head of the tourism office Bangka Tengah Regency, Zainal.
Agus Setio Rini said the games were included in Objects for the Advancement of Culture (OPK) based on regulation no. 5/2017 on the Advancement of Culture.
“OPK includes manuscript, oral tradition, custom, rite, traditional knowledge, traditional technology, art, language, traditional games and cultural heritage. Based on the document containing the concept of Babel culture known as Pikiran Pokok Kebudayan, the province has 1,785 OPK.”
She said further that cultural advancement could encourage the tourism sector because culture-based tourism had its uniqueness and tradition.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology has village cultural advancement programmes implemented in 230 cultural villages in all of Indonesia. Four of them are in Babel: Buding, Lalang, Lintang, and Pelangas.
“In 2022, 77 villages had been considered as tourism village in Babel. The Ministry of Tourism and Economy Creative inaugurated Perlang and Terong as national tourism villages. Hopefully, Batu Belubang can be included as the next cultural tourism village,” she expected.
Besides Malay traditional games, other competitions considered Islamic games and a parade of 1000 eggs also enliven the fest. The acting governor of Babel and Bangka Tengah regent would join in nganggung as the main proggrame of the fest. (rz/sas)
