Semarang City welcomes Ramadan 1446 AH with Dugderan

The Dugderan tradition highly anticipated by the people of Semarang will be held again to welcome Ramadan. The 2025 Dugderan Cultural Parade starting at 13.00 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) after Friday salat on Feb. 28, 2025 is one of the various events prepared by the Semarang City Government ahead of Ramadan 1446 After Hegira (AH).

The 2025 Dugderan Cultural Parade will start from Semarang City Hall, then cross Pemuda Road towards the Semarang City Town Square. Afterwards, the procession will move to finish at the Great Mosque of Central Java (MAJT).

Semarang City Transportation Office Head Kusnandir explained that several roads will be closed for the smooth running of the event. One of them is Pemuda Road, which will be closed from the front of Paragon Mall to Lawang Sewu. There will be a diversion of traffic on Imam Bonjol Road to Tugu Muda, which will be changed to a two-way road.

In addition, there will be a traffic diversion from Pierre Tendean Road to Imam Bonjol Road. Traffic flow heading to Pemuda Road from the direction of the Semarang Old Townwill also be diverted to Colonel Sugiyono Road or Imam Bonjol Road. Kusnandir also appealed to the public who will watch the Dugderan Parade to park their vehicles at places provided by the organizers.

"The public who will watch the Dugderan Parade should be orderly in following the traffic flow and not park their vehicles roadside, because it will affect traffic volume," he explained.

Semarang City Culture and Tourism Office Secretary Samsul Bahri said that the venue for the 2025 Dugderan event was different from previous years, which was centered at Semarang City Five-Way Intersection and the porch of MAJT, to provide more comfort to participants and visitors.

"The Town Square is wider, so the public can watch Dugderan 2025 [more] freely and comfortably," said Samsul.

Meanwhile, the porch of MAJT will be used as a transit point for Semarang Mayor Agustina "Agustin" Wilujeng, Deputy Mayor Iswar Aminuddin, as well as their special guests. Agustin will play the role of Kanjeng Mas Ayu Tumenggung Purbodiningrum as part of the Dugderan Parade. She will lead the procession and read the Suhuf Halaqoh.

During the session of the parade, the beating of a bedug drum is carried out as a sign for the start of the Islamic month of Ramadan. It will be accompanied by celebratory acts such as the release of 'air bomb' firecrackers, andum ganjel rel (sharing of Semarang ganjel rel or gambang bread), as well as sharing of water which has been ceremonially read the entire Al-Qur'an.

After the procession, Agustin and her entourage will head to MAJT to report their activities to the Central Java Governor and Deputy Governor.

Dugderan is a tradition that has been going on since 1881 Common Era (CE) and continues to be preserved until now. The name 'Dugderan' is onomatopoeia from the sound of the bedug, namely "dug dug", and the sound of the cannon which follows, namely "der".

The tradition was originally intended to unify the opinions of Muslims about determining the start of the Ramadan fasting month.  Raden Mas Tumenggung Aryo Purboningrat, then Semarang Regent, determined the start of Ramadan to be after MAJT's bedug and the bamboo cannon in the Regency Field were sounded three times each.

Before sounding the bedug and cannon, a ceremony would be held in the Regency Field first. Since then, Muslims in Semarang largely avoid disputing the beginning of Ramdan and integrated Dugderan activities to their culture.

Fitri Haryani Nasution in her book "70 Unique Traditions of Ethnic Groups in Indonesia" explains that Dugderan celebration is closed with the explosion of firecrackers and fireworks to symbolize the happiness of welcoming Eid al-Fitr.

Fatiharifah in her book "100 Unique Traditions of Indonesia" noted that Dugderan has a mascot that is also paraded during the festival, namely Warak Ngendog. The warak is a mythological animal made up of a goat's body and a dragon's head, with scales made of colorful paper. This animal is also equipped with a boiled egg called endog (Javanese for egg).

The meaning of Warak Ngendog, namely the warak laying an egg, goes back to when Dugderan was first held to welcome Ramadan. The people of Semarang were experiencing a food crisis, including eggs, at the time. Hence, eggs was seen as a luxury and integrated into the ceremony.

Dugderan is more than a cultural celebration, it is also a symbol of togetherness for the people of Semarang to welcome holy month of Ramadan with joy.