Yogyakarta, 24 November 2022 – Jogja Festivals Forum & Expo 2022 (JFFE 2022) as a meeting room for festivals and stakeholders returns in hybrid form at the Royal Ambarrukmo Hall on November 24-25 2022. Trying to implement the important points from the last two years, this year's JFFE will focus on strengthening the regional foundation of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, especially in an effort to create a legal umbrella for festivals. Several programs that filled the JFFE 2022 event on the first day were the Opening Ceremony, Symposium, FGD, Talkshow, and Workshop. Furthermore, there is a 1-on-1 meeting program, Javanese Afternoon Tea & Closing Ceremony, and Festival Gigs on the second day.

As part of the series of events on the first day on Thursday (24/11), a Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was held by inviting various experts to discuss the legal draft for legislative support of festivals. This discussion forum aims to gather opinions from various parties regarding the application of festival policy regulations. Some of the speakers who attended today's FGD were Eko Suwanto, S.T., M.Sc. (Chairman of the A Commission - Regional House of Representatives of the Special Region of Yogyakarta), Robby Kusumaharta (Vice President of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Chambers of Commerce and Industry), Ir. Singgih Raharjo, S.H., M.Ed. (Head of the Provincial Tourism Agency of the Special Region of Yogyakarta), Inspector General of Police Suwondo Nainggolan (Regional Police Chief of the Special Region of Yogyakarta), Yudi Setyo B. (Regional Secretariat Legal Bureau of the Special Region of Yogyakarta), Dr. Umi Listiyaningsih, M.Sc (Center for Population and Policy Studies UGM), Iwan Pramana, S.P., M.Ec.Dev., MIDS, (Youth Policy Analyst for the Bureau of Economic and Natural Resources Administration of the Regional Secretariat of the Special Region of Yogyakarta), Ike Janita Dewi (Academic, University Lecturer at Sanata Dharma), Triatmi Heruwarsi, S.E. (Head of the Regional Planning and Development Agency of the Special Region of Yogyakarta), Representatives of the Jogja Festival Forum (Festival Activists from the Special Region of Yogyakarta) and Representatives of Jogja Event Actors (PEJ).

Today's FGD session was opened by Ir. Singgih Raharjo, S.H., M.Ed., as the Head of the Provincial Tourism Agency of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. According to him, the Special Region of Yogyakarta is capable of giving birth to many well-known event activists outside of Yogyakarta. In addition, the variation of events and festivals that are born in this area are very diverse, the majority of which are born from the local community and society. Based on this fact, he also supports the establishment of legal support for festivals. "Well, it's time for us to form or compile regulations which will certainly have a positive impact on event organizers, whether it's in terms of licensing, whether in terms of CSR or government involvement, funding, or maybe participation, rights, and obligations. Maybe in the future, event or festival activists will have obligations to the government or society, but it is also possible for the government to fulfill the rights & obligations at the festival," said Ir. Singgih Raharjo, S.H., M.Ed., as the Head of the Provincial Tourism Agency of the Special Region of Yogyakarta at the opening of the FGD.

The Focus Group Discussion ran dynamically, with each participant explaining their arguments regarding the importance of formulating policy and regulation drafts for festivals. The organizers of the festival and the perpetrators of the event stated that the non-standard legal system and changes from year to year made it difficult for several steps in organizing the event. In addition, various members of the government's representatives also supported the argument that festivals can and have been proven to answer problems related to the economy, education, society, and culture.

The government parties present also gave suggestions regarding the steps that must be taken in realizing regulations related to festivals. Each party agreed to cooperate with each other in making the legal draft of the festival successful. It should be noted that the legal support for festivals can become one of the supporting components to realize the Special Region of Yogyakarta as a world-class festival city.

The issues raised in this FGD session were too complex to be resolved in one meeting. Even so, this program is still very useful to bridge further discussions. This interdisciplinary discussion is a big step towards creating a supportive festival legal environment in order to create a festival ecosystem in Yogyakarta. "The most important thing from this discussion is how to build an ecosystem, an ecosystem in which there is a set of various potentials that exist, where the regional government is there, the Regional House of Representatives is there, the law enforcement officers are there, the activists who are engaged in festivals and events are there, as well as the community itself," said Eko Suwanto, S.T., M.Sc., Chairman of the A Commission of the Regional House of Representatives of the Special Region of Yogyakarta.

(IGD/HIM)