SISSCa 2025 celebrates Silungkang songket through parade

Sawahlunto City of West Sumatra Province successfully held the Silungkang Songket Carnival on Sep. 6, 2025 as the main event of the 2025 Sawahlunto International Songket Silungkang Carnival (SISSCa).

Songket is a type of tenun fabric, a group of traditional fabrics of many Austronesian peoples in Southeast Asia which are usually hand-woven.

SISSCa, which celebrates the traditional songket fabric of Silungkang District, Sawahlunto Regency, is listed in the Tourism Ministry's Karisma Event Nusantara (KEN) calendar of cultural festivals for 2025.

Sawahlunto City Tourism, Youth, and Sports Office Head Adri Yusman informed that the parade was attended by 63 participants from within and outside the region, including the Jakarta Special Capital Region.

Participants showcased clothing made from Silungkang songket, which are designed by local and national designers, as they marched from UPO Triangle Field and proceeded through the Sawahlunto Terminal to finish at Ombilin Field.

"At this carnival, we are highlighting Silungkang songket, in the spirit of "The Famous Sawahlunto." Carnival participants displayed songket clothing at the parade," said Adri.

SISSCa has been held since 2015 as an effort to preserve Silungkang songket which has been recognized by the Indonesian government as an intangible cultural heritage since 2019.

"Every year, the Tourism Ministry encourages us to continuously innovate to ensure that Silungkang Songket remains known to the wider public through the SISSca event. This carnival is one of the new innovations we are developing so that it (the fabric's showcase) could be enjoyed by the public at large," Adri concluded.