Malang (malangkota.go.id) – The revival of Kajoetangan Heritage Thematic Village tourism became the spirit of the virtual Kerontjong Nang Kajoetangan Festival event, Friday (15/10/21). Opened with a keroncong kemayoran song, the old and epic tune blended beautifully with the landscape around the 1870 house, the oldest building in Kajoetangan Village which became the main stage of this festival.
The Kerontjong nang Kajoetangan virtual event is part of 27 Thematic Village events throughout Malang City throughout 2021 which was initiated by the collaboration of the Malang City Government (Pemkot) through the Youth, Tourism and Sports Service (Disporapar) together with the Tourism Awareness Group Communication Forum (Forkom Pokdarwis), Pokdarwis Kajoetangan, the local community and a number of communities.
"So this series of virtual activities is our commitment, the tourism sector of Malang City, to adapt and rise amidst the pandemic," said the Head of Disporapar Dr. Ida Ayu Made Wahyuni, SH, M.Si.
On a limited basis, the festival was also attended directly by representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kemkominfo), including reviewing the readiness of health protocols and leading spots in Kajoetangan Heritage Village.
The Head of Tourism Destination and Industry, Fitria Noverita Sari, SE., MM added that the Kerontjong Kajoetangan event was indeed synergized with the assessment process by which Malang City was selected to be accompanied as one of the participants in the smart city program and took the theme of tourism.
Not only presenting nostalgic keroncong songs, the festival was also enriched with a casual dialogue regarding the development of keroncong in Malang City and the handover of the book History of Indonesian Keroncong by the Chairman of the Indonesian Music Museum (MMI), Hengki Herwanto. "The concept is indeed old-school, including an old keroncong group," added Mila Kurniawati, head of Pokdarwis Kajoetangan Heritage.
Regarding the preparation of the event, Mila admitted that the preparation time was relatively short. Pokdarwis is grateful that the event broadcasted through the Inspire Media TV Youtube channel can run smoothly and is able to color the strengthening of one of the five pillars of Heritage tourism offered by Kajoetangan Village. "The hope is of course that the pandemic will end soon and tourists can return to visit," he concluded. (ndu/ram)
