Warangan Hamlet, Muneng Warangan Village, Magelang Regency, once again bore witness to the festivities of the 25th Five Mountains Festival (FLG), held from July 10 to 12, 2026. This grand event was particularly special as it marked a quarter-century of the farmer-artist community consistently preserving traditions on the slopes of Mount Merbabu.
The cultural parade served as an opening rich in symbolic meaning. Residents paraded a gunungan (offering cone) filled with vegetables deliberately arranged incompletely, such as mustard greens, eggplants, and cassava leaves. FLG host Sih Agung Prasetyo explained that the incomplete gunungan represents current times, serving as an allegory for a period when society faces quite severe economic challenges.
The community demonstrated high commitment to maintaining the event's independence. Over its 25-year run, FLG has steadfastly refused sponsor interference or external interests. All organizing costs were entirely self-funded, including proceeds from selling festival t-shirt souvenirs, reflecting the sincerity and resilience of its activists.
This year, the festival adopted the theme 'Makin Goblok Bareng' (Getting Fools Together) and successfully featured 85 art groups with a total of 1,274 artists. Art groups came not only from around Magelang, but also from various regions such as Bogor, Cirebon, Yogyakarta, and Solo. The high enthusiasm required the committee to conduct strict curation via online registration to keep performance durations within the three-day limit.
In addition to presenting traditional and contemporary dance stages, visitors were also treated to a fine arts exhibition that enriched the event. To this day, the Five Mountains Festival continues to prove itself an inclusive space of expression, where people from all walks of life can enjoy free art performances amidst the natural harmony of the five mountains area.
