"The Festival Kuliner Nusantara UNY aims to preserve the existence of traditional Indonesia cuisine as well as to inform the public about the Diploma of Applied Food Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Vocational Studies, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY)," said the Coordinator of Diploma of Food Engineering Study Program of UNY, Prihastuti Ekawatiningsih, M.Pd on Sunday (11/6) at Kulonprogo Cultural Park. One hundred nine students of Food Engineering Diploma were divided into 30 groups presenting various Indonesian traditional food. UNY Vice-Rector for General Affairs and Resources, Prof. Edi Purwanta, representing the Rector, officially opened the festival.

The theme of the festival 'Sanggraha Abhirama' comes from the Sanskrit language, namely, sanggraha means to supply, banquet, dish, and abhirama means pleasant, beautiful, elegant, or charming. With this meaning, it is expected that participants or the wider community will be given a great impression of a welcome celebration that is packaged gracefully / charming in the form of a food festival presented by the committee and offers the latest innovations without reducing traditional elements as part of a unique culture.

Representing the Acting Regent of Kulonprogo, Regent Expert Staff for Welfare Bambang Sutrisno, M.Si said that culinary is one of the attractions of tourism. "Many tourists come to a city just to taste the food, review it and upload it on their social media," said Bambang Sutrisno. This phenomenon should be a concern for culinary entrepreneurs to develop in the Kulonprogo area. Moreover, Kulonprogo specialties have their charm, not only on besengek or geblek, but also on many other unique culinary products. Hopefully, this activity will become a routine activity with the target of introducing traditional Indonesia cuisine to young people, based on the concern that young people rarely recognize their own culinary but are more familiar with Korean, Japanese, or Western cuisine. Bambang Sutrisno also wishes that UNY can develop local Kulonprogo-based culinary to support the local food security program.

One of the visitors, Febri from SMA 1 Wates felt happy with this activity because he could get to know various archipelago cuisine and taste the flavors. "Hopefully, activities like this can occur regularly," he said. (Author: Dedy, Editor: Sudaryono, Tj.Lak)