The Life of the People in Banyuwangi and How They Respect Their Own Culture Highly

Culture and the life in Banyuwangi are two things which can’t be separated from each other. Yes, it’s really amazing to see how the people in Banyuwangi still highly respect their own culture. According to them, it’s a must for them to maintain and apply the culture in their daily lives as the way to honor their ancestors. That’s why, until now, many ceremonies and festivals which are based on the culture in Banyuwangi are still actively performed and held. And it’s not only the adults who apply such way of life. The kids are also commonly involved. To tell you the truth, the government of Banyuwangi encourages all schools in Banyuwangi to provide extracurricular activities which are related to the culture.

Traditional Dance Is Practiced by the Students in Banyuwangi

One of the schools which obey such direction is Alasmalang 2 Elementary School. This school has traditional dance as one of the extracurricular activities. All students are involved in such activity and they practice the traditional dance together. They learn how to properly do the motions of the dance and at the same time, they also learn how to play the traditional music instrument. What’s even more amazing is how those students are so enthusiast in doing the activity. They seem to have a lot of fun while doing it. According to a student, he claimed that he’s able to do modern dance. But, he prefers to do traditional dance because it’s more fun and he knows that he will become the part of the people who try to conserve the culture. As you know, those who do so will be respected accordingly by the society.

The teachers of the school added that the students are not only practicing for the sake of extracurricular activity. They’re so serious about it to the level that they are often invited to perform in various occasions like wedding ceremonies or the other traditional festivals. Of course, the teachers give the signal “ok” to those students to perform during those occasions as long as it won’t disturb their studying activity which is their main priority.

Blambangan Park: Landmark and the Center of Cultural Activities

This park is located in the heart of the downtown. Therefore, it shouldn’t be too hard to get it. As the landmark of Banyuwangi, the people often use this park for many activities starting from the regular ones like to simply have some relaxing time, to exercise (there’s a jogging track provided for such purpose), and to hold many performances and ceremonies.

Thanks to the complete facilities provided in the Blambangan Park, it’s really possible for the people to hold many cultural festivals and ceremonies in the park. It’s quite often for this park to be crowded because there’s a culture event being held there. For instance, there’s an art and culture stage located at the western part of the park. The design of this stage is quite unique because it looks like temple. And at this stage, many culture activities are performed as the proof that the people in Banyuwangi really values their own culture highly. It’s definitely a great attitude which should be followed by many other regions in Indonesia by considering how modernization tends to suppress culture and tradition. Well, hats off for the people in Banyuwangi and their dedication towards the culture and tradition.