Celebration of cultural heritage and natural beauty

KABARJAWA-Bukit Brambang Nawungan in Bantul Regency again lives with colorful cultural and natural charm in the Dolanan Festival and Panorama 2025.

This festival is not just an annual celebration, but a celebration of cultural heritage and natural beauty that captivates thousands of visitors from various regions.

Purpose of the Festival

The Bantul Regency Tourism Office through the Head of Promotion and Information Data, Aris Purnomo Adi – who is familiarly called Ipung – emphasized that this festival is a tangible form of preservation of local culture that is packaged creatively.

“We want the community, especially the younger generation, again to know and love traditional dolanan which are starting to be forgotten,” explained Ipung.

This festival presents a variety of traditional games such as tops, congklak, bekel, crank, egrang, and gobak sodor. The visitors welcomed this activity, especially children who rarely come in direct contact with traditional games in the midst of gadget dominance.

Children, tourists, and local residents are joined in joy. They run around, laugh, and free expression in the midst of a natural atmosphere.

The village elders patiently teach game techniques while sharing their childhood stories. Each Dolanan becomes a medium of inheritance of values ​​and philosophy of life that has been hereditary.

“This is not just a matter of playing. This is about remembering, understanding, and maintaining our identity as a nation,” said Ipung.

Location of the Dolanan and Panorama Festival

The uniqueness of this festival not only lies in traditional games, but also at its location, namely Bukit Brambang Nawungan.

This hill offers a view as a perfect background for the cultural festival held twice, namely June 14-15 and 28-29 June.

From the top of the hill, visitors can enjoy the green stretch of hills that seem to be integrated with the blue sky. In the distance, the silhouette of Mount Merapi looks dashing, creating a dramatic visual contrast.

At dusk greeting, the sky of Bukar Bukar turns into colorful canvas: orange, pink, and purple alternately in amazing natural gradations.

“This panorama is not just a background, but also part of the show itself. Its beauty strengthens the meaning of this festival – that culture and nature are two inseparable elements,” said Ipung.

This festival proves that cultural heritage does not have to be stored in the museum. He can live in the open, integrated with the landscape, and become part of everyday life. Visitors are not only treated to spectacles, but are invited to be directly involved in cultural activities.

Various traditional culinary booths are also present to enliven the atmosphere. The sweet aroma of brown sugar from market snacks combined with fragrant flowers and leaves, creating the atmosphere of teasing the entire senses.

Ipung said that this festival also had an economic impact for local residents. Local MSMEs are also pushed, ranging from food sellers to handicrafts.

“This is a real form of synergy between cultural preservation and tourism development,” he said.

In the midst of a fast -paced modernization flow, this festival comes as an oasis that is soothing, touching emotions, and strengthens connections between generations.

With the concept of celebration of inheritance and beauty, the dolanan festival and panorama on Bukit Brambang are not only entertaining, but are also inspired. This is a place of interview between the past and the present, between humans and nature, in a strong harmony. (EF Linangkung)