Pork festival in Semarang changes name following pressure from Islamic groups

Selling pork and pork dishes is not against the law in Indonesia, but despite that, a pork-themed culinary festival in the city of Semarang, Central Java, has been forced to change its name following pressure from Islamic groups.

Organizers of the festival, originally named Pork Festival 2017, changed the event’s name to Festival Kuliner Imlek (Chinese New Year Culinary Festival). The festival celebrates and serves pork dishes from January 23-29 in the lead up to, and in celebration of, Chinese New Year, which falls on Saturday, January 28, this year.

Event organizer Firdaus Adinegoro said the name change was a result of mediation between the organizers and several Islamic groups, who previously protested against the event.

“This will actually cause problems for us. What happens if there are Muslim visitors? We’d have to warn all the visitors that come [to the festival],” Firdaus told Detik.

Pork is haram to Muslims, meaning that its consumption is a sinful act for followers of the faith. However, selling pork or pork dishes is not illegal in Indonesia, with many sellers choosing to put up clear signs that their products contain pork out of respect for Muslims so they don’t consume it by mistake.

Related: 7 ‘secret’ pork speciality restaurants in Jakarta where you can really pig out

Despite the fact that they could’ve simply ignored the event, which is taking place in the parking lot of a mall, an Islamic group called the Semarang Islam Congregation Forum (FUIS) threatened to forcefully close the event if the organizers didn’t change its name. Their protest was supported by several Islamic organizations in the city, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and Muhammad Youth.

“The Pork Festival bothers us Muslims in Semarang. That’s why we want the committee to cancel the festival and focus on the Imlek (Chinese New Year) celebration. The event will still have pork stalls but they have to be closed off from the public eye,” FUIS Spokesman Danang Ansoru told The Jakarta Post.

Semarang Metro Police Chief Grand Commissioner Abiyoso Seno Aji acknowledged that the two parties had agreed to have the festival’s name changed as a result of a peaceful mediation. He also assured the media that the authorities would protect the event to ensure that it runs as planned.

“This activity is legitimate and does not violate the law, so we must secure it. If anyone wants to disrupt it, we will act against them,” he told Detik.



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