Sriwijaya Festival 2025 celebrates South Sumatra's 79th birthday

The 33^rd Sriwijaya Festival in Palembang City, South Sumatra Province presents various interesting activities such as a traditional dance and music performance named after the festival's theme, micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) exhibitions, culinary stands, band performances, as well as photography and videography competitions.

The festival, which is being held on May 16-18, 2025, to commemorate South Sumatra's 79^th Anniversary, has "The Glory of Sriwijaya" as its theme. is included in the Tourism Ministry's (KEN) cultural festivals calendar, 

Tourism Ministry Regional Events Assistant Deputy Reza Pahlevi stated that Sriwijaya Festival 2025 and two other events in South Sumatra that have been included in the ministry's Karisma Event Nusantara cultural festival calendar, namely the Bidar Competition and the Karangasem Festival in Muara Enim, are strategic steps to attract tourists to South Sumatra.

"This event involves many parties, from artists, MSMEs, to exhibition [business] actors," said Reza.

Meanwhile, South Sumatra Governor Herman Deru said that Sriwijaya Festival 2025 is an important occasion to remind of Sriwijaya Kingdom's historical importance to South Sumatra, as well as the diversity of arts and culture that should be preserved. He hopes that more students, as the succeeding generation, will be involved in preserving regional culture.

"South Sumatra not only has the Sriwijaya Festival, but there are also other events such as the Sriwijaya Dempo Run and Sriwijaya Grand Fondo in Ranau which I hope can also be included in the national event calendar," he said.

The 33^rd Sriwijaya Festival is targeted to be able to generate up to Rp5 billion of transaction value in three days. South Sumatra Culture and Tourism Office Tourism Marketing Division Sido Santoso stated that the public's transaction value reached Rp3 billion at Sriwijaya Festival 2024.

"We are targeting Rp5 billion of transaction value during the Sriwijaya Festival  this year ecause we know that the people (of South Sumatra) are hungry for entertainment," said Sido on May 16, 2025.

The festival's opening performance at the People's Strugge Monument in Palembang City, South Sumatra, which commemorates the city's defense amid the second Dutch invasion of the Republic of Indonesia, was seen crowded with visitors with MSME stands were lined up with many culinary snacks.