Aceh Culinary Festival 2026 Introduces Collective Scheme to Promote Sustainable Tourism Event Model

Banda Aceh Kartininews.com – The Aceh Culture and Tourism Office will present the Aceh Culinary Festival (ACF) 2026 through a collective organizing scheme that involves collaboration between the government, communities, creative industry players, and the private sector.

This transformation marks a new step in the development of ACF after nine editions since 2014.

Through this approach, ACF is shifting from a model that relied heavily on the Aceh Regional Budget (APBA) to a more participatory, independent, and sustainable event ecosystem.

Head of the Aceh Culture and Tourism Office, Dedy Yuswadi, stated that this collective scheme is expected to become a model for regional tourism events that can develop sustainably with support from various stakeholders.

“Aceh Culinary Festival has been built and developed over nine editions as an event brand, not just an annual activity. Its reputation, networks, and the value it has created have become important capital for ACF to continue growing through a more independent, collaborative, and sustainable scheme. We are optimistic that this model can become one of the alternatives for developing regional tourism events in the future,” said Dedy.

Opportunities to participate in the collective movement of ACF 2026 will soon be opened to culinary, arts, culture, and other creative economy players through an open registration mechanism that will be announced soon via an online platform.

Optimism for the implementation of ACF 2026 is supported by the festival’s track record of national achievements. Since 2016, ACF has been selected four times for the Top 100 Calendar of Events by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia.

In addition, ACF has also successfully entered the Top 10 Karisma Event Nusantara (KEN) for three consecutive years from 2021 to 2023. In 2026, ACF once again passed the curation and entered the Top 10 Karisma Event Nusantara.

Although adopting a collective scheme, the Aceh Culture and Tourism Office will continue to play a strategic role as the lead sector. The Aceh Culinary Festival 2026 is scheduled to take place on 11–14 September 2026, while maintaining its main identity through the Culinary Pavilion located at the regency/city stands in Taman Ratu Safiatuddin, Banda Aceh.

Founder and Festival Director of ACF, Wan Windi Lestari, explained that the revitalization and activation of Taman Ratu Safiatuddin as a creative economy-based cultural area remains the flagship program of this year’s festival.

“The Culinary Pavilion at the regency/city stands remains the main icon of the Aceh Culinary Festival. Through this collective scheme, we aim to strengthen the function of Taman Ratu Safiatuddin as a living, productive cultural space that provides benefits to Aceh’s creative economy players,” said Wan Windi.

This year’s event also marks an important milestone in intellectual property management. Aceh Culinary Festival has become the first event under the Aceh Culture and Tourism Office to obtain a trademark certificate or Intellectual Property Rights (HAKI).

According to Dedy Yuswadi, protecting intellectual property is an important part of strengthening the creative and event industries in Aceh.

“We are committed to protecting works that emerge from the creative industry ecosystem. The Aceh Culinary Festival trademark is jointly owned by the founder and the Aceh Culture and Tourism Office as co-founder. Intellectual property management is one of the focuses we continue to promote as part of strengthening the creative economy sector in Aceh,” he said on Friday (19/6/2026).

Aceh Culinary Festival has obtained trademark protection under the name of Wan Windi Lestari as Founder and Festival Director, together with the Aceh Culture and Tourism Office as co-founder.

Closing her remarks, Wan Windi stated that Collective ACF has the potential to become a new model for organizing inclusive and sustainable regional hallmark events.

“Every breakthrough certainly comes with challenges, but we choose to see them as opportunities for growth. We appreciate the commitment of the Aceh Culture and Tourism Office in joining us to try this new approach. Our hope is that Collective ACF can become a collaborative space that delivers broader benefits to all involved parties,” she said.

Aceh Culinary Festival 2026 will be held on 11–14 September 2026 and invites all elements of society to become part of this collective movement celebrating culinary, culture, creativity, and the spirit of collaboration in Aceh.