Jakarta Muharram Festival 2025, which was scheduled for Saturday (7/5), has been officially canceled. As an alternative, the Jakarta Provincial Government is encouraging commemoration events at the community level in collaboration with local agencies.

"This decision was not an easy one, but it was considered the best step under current circumstances,"

Cyril Raoul Hakim, Special Staff to Jakarta Governor for Public Communication, extended apologies to the public for the cancellation. The decision was made after taking several considerations into account.

"The Jakarta Provincial Government has decided to cancel the Jakarta Muharram Festival 2025 and instead support community-level commemorations. So, what's canceled is the event concept, not the 1 Muharram commemoration itself," he said, Friday (7/4).

According to him, the festival was originally planned as part of the Islamic New Year 1447 Hijri and scheduled to take place from 6 PM to 10 PM. The event was to include a torch parade starting from Southwest Gate of Monas to Bundaran HI through Bank Indonesia Roundabout and Jalan MH Thamrin.

He acknowledge that the cancellation was partly due to concerns over traffic flow and regular evening activities of residents on that day.

Despite the cancellation, he also appreciated the enthusiasm of the public and the hard work of the organizing committee.

"This decision was not an easy one, but it was considered the best step under current circumstances. However, the Jakarta Provincial Government continues to encourage residents and local government units from RT/RW, urban village, and sub-district, to commemorate the Islamic New Year in a meaningful and respectful way within their communities," he explained.

He added that residents can still enjoy a separate event held by the Jakarta Provincial Government on Sunday (7/6) morning, during Car Free Day (CFD).

The "Jakarta dalam Warna" event will take place at Bundaran HI, Central Jakarta, and is open to the public, featuring a variety of exciting performances.

Starting from 6 AM to 10 AM, the event will feature a parade of 5,000 martial artists and 2,000 traditional Jakarta dancers, and other exciting performances such as marching band performance from Jakarta Drum Corps in collaboration with giant ondel-ondel.

"This event will also be enlivened by well-known artists such as Prisia Nasution, Happy Salma, Ufa Sofura, Ayu Ting Ting, and Jiung Band. Maudy Koesnaedi, Mandra, and Indra Herlambang will also serve as hosts at the event," he concluded.