Head of General and Cooperation Affairs of the Directorate General of Culture of Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, Ahmad Mahendra on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 in Jakarta said Indonesiana cultural platform which was formed some time ago would be used to encourage the regions to become organizers of independent and professional cultural festivals. By doing this, he said, it is expected that each region can hold various cultural festivals with their own ideas based on the local values ​​and culture. According to Ahmad Mahendra, currently many regions in Indonesia have realized the importance of promoting local values ​​and local culture. They are also proud and have high confidence in their values ​​and local culture. However, there are still many of them who have not been able to promote the values ​​and local culture they have. Therefore the Indonesiana cultural platform is here to help them.

"So it really needs to be encouraged, the regions need to be encouraged, then they need to be confident, so that immediately they can, Indonesia can, we can. Like that. So the function of Indonesiana is to encourage those who are confident about their area, to their locality so that their ideas emerge. We are like public relations, they never know what kind of social media they are, but after the workshop, after mentoring from public relations on how to perform public relations, they finally do it themselves," said Ahmad Mehndra.

Ahmad Mahendra further explained that the values ​​and local culture of the region have considerable potential for the progress and welfare of the community. Therefore, he encouraged all regions to seriously promote the values ​​and local culture they have and synergize with the central government through the Indonesiana cultural platform. The Indonesiana cultural platform itself has helped the government in various regions to hold four festivals from 13 festivals in 2018. The four festivals include the Foho Rai Festival in Belu, East Nusa Tenggara Province, the International Gamelan Festival in Central Java and the festival on Mount Sintuvu in Central Sulawesi. In addition there are also other cultural festivals that will be held in the near future, including the Multatuli Arts Festival in Lebak, Banten, the Blora Folklore Festival in Blora, Central Java, and the Saman Cultural Festival in Gayo Lues, Aceh, the Nusantara Weaving Festival in North Tapanuli, North Sumatra, Ambonia International Bamboowind Music Festival in Ambon, to Silek Artis Festival in Padang, Padang Pariaman, Solok, Sawahlunto, Tanahdatar, Payakumbuh, and Bukit Tinggi, also South Sumatra. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)