East Kutai Lom Plai Festival Wins KEN 2026, Enchanting Dayak Wehea Tradition Captivates

Festival Lom Plai reaffirms its allure. This year, the traditional celebration of the Dayak Wehea community received the Karisma Event Nusantara (KEN) 2026 award from the Ministry of Tourism, securing its place in the national tourism event calendar.

This recognition is not merely an administrative accolade but signifies that a local tradition, born from the profound relationship between humans and nature, now has a place on the national stage.

Head of the East Kalimantan Provincial Tourism Office, Ririn Sari Dewi, highly appreciates the Dayak Wehea indigenous community for their steadfast preservation of Cultural Heritage.

“Festival Lom Plai is not just a celebration; it reflects the noble values of the Dayak Wehea indigenous people, rich with life philosophy. It contains messages of togetherness, deep respect for nature, and the balance between humans and their environment,” said Ririn while attending Embob Jengea in Nehas Liah Bing Village.

Nehas Liah Bing Village in East Kutai serves as the main stage for this celebration, an area surrounded by green landscapes, river flows, and a well-preserved pulse of traditional life.

Here, tourists come not only to witness the festival but also to understand a way of life in harmony with the forest.

Ririn emphasized that Lom Plai holds significant Tourism Potential, from pristine natural panoramas to the uniqueness of the Dayak Wehea indigenous people's daily life.

"This potential is highly strategic to be developed into a flagship cultural and ecotourism-based Tourist Destination in East Kalimantan," she explained.

Lom Plai is a traditional post-rice-harvest feast. The series of ceremonies lasts approximately 38 days.

Everything begins solemnly with the Ngesea Egung procession or gong beating on March 23rd, marking the opening of the ritual season.

After that, the community undergoes Laq Pesyai, journeying together to the upstream of the Wehea River to collect forest fruits and rattan for ceremonial equipment.

This journey illustrates How deeply the tradition depends on the surrounding natural wealth.

The subsequent processions, Naq Pesyai Duq Min and Wet Min, symbolize the demarcation of the village's upstream and downstream boundaries using rattan weavings.

"The uniqueness of Wehea culture is also evident in the Ngelwung Pan ritual, where indigenous women perform a closed spiritual ritual beneath the Hepui descendant's house," said Ririn.

Entering April, residents build temporary shelters by the river in the Naq Jengea tradition.

Next comes the peak celebration, Bob Jengea, when the village transforms into a colorful stage featuring cultural parades, Hudoq dances, and mock war attractions on the river known as Seksiang.

The entire series concludes with Embos Epaq Plai on April 29, 2026, a village cleansing procession to ward off misfortune and pray for blessings in the next planting season.

For East Kalimantan, the KEN 2026 award is an opportunity to introduce Lom Plai to Domestic Tourists and international visitors.

But more than that, this festival is a reminder that the future of tourism can grow from traditions preserved with respect.

"We hope collaboration between traditional custodians and local government can continue to safeguard the sustainability of this tradition as a national intellectual heritage. May the Lom Plai Festival remain a regional identity and a proud face of East Kalimantan Tourism on the international level," she concluded.