Dugderan

Dugderan
Dugderan festival
Date	Last ten days/seven days/last day of Sha'ban[1] until before Ramadan
Begins	Morning
Ends	Dawn
Frequency	Annually
Locations	Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia
Years active	1881[2] - current
Activity	Fireworks festival

Dugderan is a festival tradition practiced by Javanese residents in Semarang to mark the start of Ramadan.^[3]

In certain year, as clashing with other religious festival, dugderan can be merged and become multi religious in nature with participation from other religion (such as Imlek).^[4]

Etymology

Dugderan refer to the sound of beduk and bamboo cannon that is associated with the month of Ramadan. The beduk will be hit seventeen times while the cannon will be fired seven times. The sound (duk duk duk by beduk and der der der by the cannon) that made by all these activities is what called as dugderan^[5]

For Demak population, the term megengan is more popularly use.^[6]

Tradition

The tradition started in 1881 at Kauman^[7] by Semarang administration.

Participant of the festival included but not limited to students, art practitioner, and residents, wearing colorful traditional clothes such as warriors costume. It usually held from morning till evening. Based on several record, the festival may held on the last ten days, last seven days^[8],or last day of Sha'ban^[9] till before the first day of Ramadan. The festival is usually done in two part.

The first part will involve cultural and traditional folks activities. The second part will involve mayor parade thru the city center without the supporting act.^[10] Alongside the main festival, a side festival called warak festival and jipin blatenan are also held.

During the festival, Warak ngendog (an imaginary animal, with dragon as its head, camel hump and goat legs) will be paraded. ^[11]The belief is that every purchase of celengan (children money box) and warak badag (children toy version of warak ngendog) will gain pahala.^[12]

The entire proceedings will use a sub Javanese language called kromo.^[13]

Reference

1. "Risalah" (in Indonesian). No. 7. Yayasan Risalah. 2003. p. 62. Retrieved 2026-03-17. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
2. Huda, M. (2026-03-12). "Sambut Ramadan 1447 H, Dugderan Semarang 2026 Digelar: Begini Sejarahnya". IDN Times Jateng (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2026-03-16.
3. Nafisah, A.; Awalin, L. J. (2023). "Ritual and Social Values in the Tradition of Padusan and Dugderan". Thaqafiyyat: Jurnal Bahasa, Peradaban Dan Kebudayaan Islam. 24 (1): 15–30. doi:10.14421/thaqafiyyat.2023.24.1.02. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
4. "Pemkot Semarang siapkan penyelenggaraan karnaval Dugderan jelang Ramadhan". Antaranews.com (in Indonesian). 2026-02-06. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
5. Wahyudi, S. (2021). 100 Tradisi Unik di Indonesia (in Indonesian). Bhuana Ilmu Populer. p. 43. ISBN 978-623-04-0352-1.
6. Sunoko, K.; Saraswati, R. (2010). "Dugderan: A Cultural Heritage as a City Identity". Prosiding International Conference on Indonesian Studies (ICIS). Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya Universitas Indonesia. p. 73. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
7. Budiman, Amen (1978). Semarang Tempo Dulu (in Indonesian). Tanjung Sari. p. 29. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
8. Buku Petunjuk Pariwisata (in Indonesian). Dinas Pariwisata [Semarang/Jawa Tengah]. 1980. p. 42. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
9. "Berita Pustaka" (in Indonesian). No. 43–44. Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia. 1985. Retrieved 2026-03-17. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
10. Saraswati, Anatasia Anesya (2024-03-09). "Wali Kota Semarang: Dugderan simbol akulturasi budaya menyambut puasa". Antara News Jawa Tengah (in Indonesian). Lembaga Kantor Berita Nasional Antara. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
11. Fitriani, A. (2019). 70 Tradisi Unik Suku Bangsa di Indonesia (in Indonesian). PT Intan Pariwara. p. 18. ISBN 978-979-28-3642-4.
12. Petunjuk Wisata Budaya Jawa Tengah (in Indonesian). Proyek Pengembangan Permuseuman Jawa Tengah, Direktorat Jenderal Kebudayaan. 1982. p. 95. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
13. Setyawan, A. (2024-03-09). "Tradisi Dugderan, Jaga Kerukunan Semarang". Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2026-03-16.