Fun and Popular Music Festivals in Indonesia

Indonesia has so many music festivals that are extraordinarily good, both in terms of packaging and artist selection.

In any condition, music festivals will always be eagerly awaited. Not without reason, music festivals are one of the elements that build the greatest euphoria in celebrating music itself.

Interestingly, since entering the pandemic period in 2020, several Indonesian music festivals have adapted. Starting from inviting people to invade one place, now the festival can be accessed virtually, or seen on national television stations accordign to apopkarotaryfair.org.

This step is a form of dedication by music festival actors to continue to provide space for expression for musicians to entertain audiences.

Soundrenaline

Of all those that will be discussed here, Soundrenaline is classified as the oldest. The official name ‘Soundrenaline’ has been used since 2002, with a different theme each year.

The first edition of Soundrenaline took place on 2-3 November 2002, precisely at Senayan East Parking, Jakarta. A year later, the organizers then held it in five different cities to meet the interest of live music lovers in Indonesia.

Many people predicted that Soundrenaline would not live long because they went on hiatus in 2010. However, they were able to recover in the following years, even fairly consistently.

Java Jazz Festival

For musicians, Java Jazz is a kind of opening music festival in the calendar year. The reason is, in January and February, big festivals like this tend to be quiet.

Initiated by Peter F. Gontha, Java Jazz can now be considered one of the biggest jazz festivals in Indonesia.

This festival was first held on 5-7 March 2005 at the Jakarta Convention Center, Senayan. The first edition of JJF featured 25 foreign musicians as well as 63 Indonesian musicians.

Prambanan Jazz

As the name suggests, Prambanan Jazz is held at Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta. The implementation time is relatively changeable, around the middle or end of the year.

The unique thing about this music festival, which has been held since 2015, is the panoramic view of Prambanan. This temple is a world-famous Indonesian historical relic, so it has a ‘sacred’ atmosphere that is different from other festivals.

Apart from the panorama, this music performance is even more beautiful thanks to the technical lighting.

Ngayogjazz

Since its inception, Ngayogjazz has considered that music festivals are cultural events that are closely related to human life.

Therefore, since 2007, this annual event has always chosen a rural venue, while involving the surrounding community.

The organizing committee deliberately involved local residents where Ngayogjazz was held to open up more space for expression.

Mountain Jazz

Jazz Gunung, whose first edition was held on July 25 2009, can make you feel jazz music with a cool, sad atmosphere mixed into one.

Jazz Gunung can be considered as a pioneer in organizing music festivals held in the open air, especially in mountainous landscapes.

Somewhat different from other national jazz festivals, most of the line-up appearing at Jazz Gunung is dominated by jazz and ethnic musicians.