The amazing charm of Papua’s natural beauty is very well-known. Especially for those stopping by the Jayawijaya region, where various traditional tribes and interesting traditions in the Baliem Valley can be found. During his visit to Papua, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno officially closed the “Baliem Valley Cultural Festival” (FBLB) 2024 which took place in Jayawijaya Regency, Papua Mountain Province.
Sandiaga’s presence was greeted enthusiastically by the community as well as tourists who had packed the three days of the 2024 Baliem Valley Cultural Festival on 7 to 9 August 2024. Sandiaga also became the first tourism minister to directly attend the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival in the 32 years of the festival’s organisation.
“On behalf of the President, I am very enthusiastic about greeting the community directly and seeing the existing culture. So, with gratitude, I declare the 32nd Baliem Valley Cultural Festival officially closed,” said Menparekraf Sandiaga when closing the “Baliem Valley Cultural Festival”, Friday (9/8) in Wosi, Wamena, Jayawijaya Regency, Papua Mountain Province.
The Baliem Valley Cultural Festival is a festival that presents the customs and culture of the five major tribes in the Baliem Valley, namely the Hubula (known as the Dani tribe), the Lanny tribe, the Yali tribe, the Hubla tribe, and the Ngalik “Nduga tribe”. The festival, which has been held since 1989, aims to preserve the various customs and cultures that exist in the region.
One of the most interesting attractions is is the mock tribal war, where people from 40 districts in Jayawijaya Regency present a war with their own narratives, choreographies, and displays. In the past, tribal wars in the community often occurred, triggered by a number of problems. Such as land boundary disputes, infidelity issues, and the problem of domesticated pigs, which in the local language are called wam.
But with the approach of the local government, wars no longer occur and the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival is a forum for the community to display their respective war attractions. It is also a place to introduce indigenous culture to the younger generation.
In addition to war attractions, the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival is also filled with cultural attractions such as dances, handicrafts such as noken, wood carvings, koteka, spears, sali (wooden tassel skirt), and others.
This is an attraction for tourist, both domestic and foreign. Based on provisional data, the day of the 2024 Baliem Valley Cultural Festival was packed with more than 15,000 visitors. This number is expected to increase and even exceed the number of visitors last year, which reached 50,000.
“I thank you and congratulate you for the selection of the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival to be the top 10 best events in Indonesia in the Karisma Event Nusantara (KEN). I hope that in the future there will be more benefits for the community in preserving culture, nature, and moving the economy because there are many domestic and foreign tourists. We are ready to support to improve the quality of events in the future,” Sandiaga said.
Minister Sandiaga said, will also fully support the development of the creative economy in Jayawijaya and the Papua Mountains Province in general. The Tourism Ministry has various programmes to strengthen the creative economy ecosystem so that later Jayawijaya can be submitted as a UNESCO-recognised creative city.
“Because I saw a series of events ranging from warfare, food offerings (stone burning), to the ritual of walking on hot stones (Apen Bayeren) which were extraordinary,” said Minister Sandiaga.
Acting Governor of Highland Papua, Velix Wanggai, greatly appreciated the support and direct presence of the Minister at the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival 2024.
“We will develop the tourism sector and creative economy of Papua Mountains by focusing on community-based tourism and culture,” said Velix.
West Papua Now 