Held every 2 years, Budayaw Festival celebrates different cultures in BIMP-EAGA and aims to strengthen ties among member countries. Photo credit: Courtesy of the Mindanao Development Authority
BIMP-EAGA is holding the fourth Budayaw Festival on 1–5 September in Makassar in Indonesia.
After going virtual in 2021 because of the pandemic, the festival will be held in-person this year.
Held every 2 years, Budayaw Festival celebrates different cultures in the subregion and aims to strengthen ties among member countries. Budayaw is a portmanteau of the Bahasa word “budaya” which means culture and the Filipino word “dayaw” which means good or beautiful.
The first Budayaw Festival was held in 2017 in General Santos City, Mindanao in the Philippines, while the second was in 2019 in Kuching, Malaysia. The third festival was held virtually and was hosted by Brunei Darussalam.
In previous years, the festival featured cultural and dance performances, an arts exhibit, a film showcase, among others.
Kindhearted host city
With the Budayaw Festival focused on people, it is apt the host city puts people first in its drive to become a smart city.
The capital of South Sulawesi, Makassar is one of the largest highly urbanized cities in Indonesia. Faced with the challenges of rapid urbanization, the city government has embarked on a plan to become a smart city and has adopted sombere—kindhearted—and smart city philosophy.
Makassar is part of a network of 26 smart cities under an initiative started by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2018. The initiative’s primary goal is to improve the lives of citizens by using technology to enhance the delivery of services, make cities more livable and inclusive, and ensure that no one is left behind.
Signature event
Budayaw is a signature event of the BIMP-EAGA Socio-Cultural and Education Cluster. The festival serves as a venue to foster stronger connectivity among the peoples of the subregion and to showcase the diversity of their creative expressions.
Socio-cultural and education is one of the main pillars of BIMP-EAGA under Vision 2025 and deemed vital for the long-term sustainability of the subregion.
Under this pillar, BIMP-EAGA promotes, preserves, and sustains indigenous culture and heritage as well as enhances people-to-people connectivity and knowledge exchange. It aims to develop the subregion’s human resources and build a highly skilled and competent workforce to support development initiatives.