The Sports Education Department in Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) held Traditional Game Festival on Saturday (29/01) in the Second Campus Sports Center. Eko Sudarmanto, SPd, MOr, the Sports Education lecturers, explained that this is the first festival conducted by UMS. “The agenda becomes an actualization program for traditional games subject that the outcome is to implement a festival,” he said. He also expected from the festival, the traditional games could be returned to play nationally for the current youth generation known as the millennial generation.

“I hope we can pass the traditional games to the next generation that in current condition, it has been left behind by them due to the rapid development of technology. Meanwhile, they have lost their way. With the importance of persevering cultures that include traditional games, we should foster the culture in the public communities,” he said.

On the same occasion, the Chief of Festival Committee, Kahfi Hidayat explained that the agenda is the first festival as the support and guidance from his supervisors. “We raise the theme “The Splendor of Millenial Generation in Developing and Persevering Traditional Games” as a diminish representation of traditional games in the recent era,” said Kahfi Hidayat.

He also mentioned several traditional games involved in the festival, including dakon (a wood consisting of fourteen pits filled with particles that played by two players), bakiak (a traditional wooden sandal having straps), betengan (fort games), tarik tambang (tug of war), egrang (two rods made of bamboo which has pedestal bottom), eklek, and many other games. In this circumstance, the festival was opened symbolically by sticking the Keris (a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger) in front of 150 participants roughly. [] UMS/Diktilitbang