04.07.2019

More than 4000 people joined the 1000 tents Caldera youth festival at lake Toba!

A gathering by the lake in collaboration with the local villages, joined by thousands of participants in the debate on the future of youths in Indonesia.

Thousand colorful tents lined the banks of lake Toba; one of Indonesia´s most beautiful and famous lakes, which is situated in the caldera of a supervolcano on Sumatra island in western Indonesia.

Almost 4.400 people from all parts of Indonesia and even from abroad visited the youth festival, that has been organized for the very first time in Indonesia.

In addition to the fascinating camping spot in the mid of a fairytale landscape, which has been further beautified with several art exhibitions, also various topic-based workshops took place in the open tents, while music was performed until late night. 

"On 28-30 June 2019, my dream finally came true to organize the 1000 Tents Caldera Toba Festival", said the founder and Director of the festival - Tumpak Winmark Hutabarat.

Tumpak calls himself an alumnus of the degrowth Summer School on climate change, which took place in the summer 2018 in Leipzig, Germany, to which he was invited by FES at that time.

"Despite the vibe of the relaxing camping spots with music performance in the evening, the participants in Leipzig were quite serious in following the debated in the discussion camps", recalls Tumpak about his experience in Germany.

"At that time, I was stunned by the enthusiasm and said to myself one day, I will make such an amazing event in Indonesia. I was really inspired by the ability of young Germans to realize such a concept. Since then I dreamt of organizing a similar event for young people in Indonesia to provide them also such a platform for inspiration."

 

"For me, the festival is a living laboratory, a space in which also the local communities exchange with us how to organize this kind of events as well as how to prepare their villages to be a tourist destination village."

 

The organizing committee of the festival - Rumah Karya Indonesia - therefore emphasized the active involvement of local communities in all the festival activities, explained Tumpak.

According to the Indonesian summer school veteran the local villagers were fully integrated into the festival; including by benefiting from 50% shares of the registration fee. The villagers also had chance to be more creative in promoting their village as tourist destinations. Another direct economic effect for the local villagers was realized through the sales of necessities and food.

Tumpak reassured furthermore, that through this festival the organizing committee wanted to start infusing the value of environment awareness to all participants.

"Everyone was obliged to report the goods they brought into the camp area. And everyone had to bring back the litter of the goods after the event. Moreover, we also provided trash bins on many corners and made banners manually with the help of local artists in order to also minimize any waste."

FES Indonesia office supported a Writing Workshop and Discussions in several tents with 6 different topics as follow: Young People Who Lead; Towards Indonesia 2045 - Millennials' Strategies to Face the Change of the 4.0 era; Millennials develop Villages; Is there any Future in Toba Lake, Art and the Future of Creative Industry; Millennials and a borderless world; as well as Globalization and Its Effects. The participants could register in advance online to choose their preferred groups to join.

"I hope this festival from now on onwards could be held every year", sighted an enthusiastic Tumpak after the three days festival.

"My dream is to encourage the Indonesian youth to be inspired, smart and critical. Through this festival, I wish to be a catalysator towards such a process."

 

Please find as follows the Instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/1000tenda/

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Indonesia Office

Jl. Kemang Selatan II No. 2A
Jakarta Selatan 12730
Indonesia

+62 21 7193711
+62 21 71791358

info(at)fes.or.id
indonesia.fes.de