Surabaya’s Cultural Diplomacy in Promoting Rujak Uleg Festival to International Students in 2024–2026

Abstract

This study analyzes Surabaya’s cultural diplomacy in promoting local culture to international students through the Rujak Uleg Festival during the 2024-2026 period. The research aims to examine how the Surabaya City Government through the Department of Culture, Youth, Sport, and Tourism (Disbudporapar) utilizes the Rujak Uleg Festival as a medium of cultural diplomacy towards international students. This study employs a qualitative descriptive method, with data collected through in-depth interviews, official documents from Disbudporapar, documentations, and literature studies. The findings show that the Rujak Uleg Festival has developed beyond an annual culinary event into a participatory platform for cultural diplomacy. By using Goff’s cultural diplomacy concept, particularly the indicators of connection, consistency, and innovation, this study finds that the Surabaya city government successfully builds cultural engagement through direct interaction between international students and local communities, consistently involves international students as honorary guests, and continuously develops innovative approaches through festival themes and digital engagement. The findings also show that besides experiencing Surabaya’s local culture, international students have the potential to act as informal cultural intermediaries who convey their lived cultural experiences back to their origin networks.