Samosir, September 27, 2026 – Minister of Creative Economy/Head of the Creative Economy Agency attended the 2026 Toba Caldera Culture Festival (TCCF) at Waterfront Pangururan, North Sumatra, Sunday (9/27). His presence asserted the Ministry of Creative Economy's commitment to optimize North Sumatra's flagship potentials, including Lake Toba alongside its rich cultural heritage, to drive globally competitive national economic growth.
Minister of Creative Economy Teuku Riefky Harsya attends the Toba Caldera Culture Festival (TCCF) 2026 at Waterfront Pangururan, North Sumatra, Sunday (29/7/2026).
“The status of Toba Caldera as a UNESCO Global Geopark carries a grand responsibility for us to continuously safeguard this heritage, while ensuring that this world recognition delivers tangible benefits to community welfare. Toba possesses world-class nature, strong culture, and extraordinary talent. Let us make this strength a source of creativity, economic value, and national pride; let the world know Toba through its nature, feel Toba through its culture, and hear Toba through the works and voices of its nation's children. From Toba to the world!,” the Minister of Creative Economy stated.
TCCF 2026 serves as a venue to highlight Toba's cultural richness while developing regional creative talent, notably through music and choral singing. According to the Minister of Creative Economy, choirs represent not merely artistic achievements, but also drive an economic ecosystem involving vocal coaches, conductors, arrangers, event organizers, down to the culinary, fashion, craft, accommodation, and transportation sectors.
Photo: Bureau for Communication, Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency.
For this reason, creativity rooted in local culture needs to be continuously encouraged to develop into an economic powerhouse and open broader employment opportunities. This immense potential is further bolstered following President Prabowo Subianto's designation of North Sumatra as one of the 15 priority locations for national creative economy development for 2025–2029, owing to its remarkable cultural wealth and talent.
To support this initiative, the Minister of Creative Economy instructed the Deputy for Media Creativity and the Director of Music to design programs encompassing talent discovery and capacity building, industry access, as well as stage expansions at national and international levels.
“We want more and more musical talent to emerge from North Sumatra who not only bring pride to their region, but also become a new force in Indonesian music on the world stage. I hope TCCF and the Samosir International Choir Competition can continue to evolve into a platform that nurtures talent, strengthens the creative ecosystem, and further projects the cultural richness of Toba and Indonesia to the global stage,” the Minister of Creative Economy added.
Photo: Bureau for Communication, Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency.
With the theme of “Kaldera Toba Bergema: Gema dari Toba”, TCCF 2026 initiated by ND Management spanned four days, September 24–27, 2026. The festival presented a Folk Fiesta, choir competitions and workshops, an Intangible Cultural Heritage (WBTB) exhibition, as well as a creative and culinary market. The presence of the Minister of Creative Economy at this event served as a follow-up to the TCCF committee's audience on August 20, 2026.
"The Toba Caldera Culture Festival stands as tangible proof of how Samosir's cultural wealth and natural beauty harmonize to drive the creative economy. Let us jointly echo the charm of this Beautiful Piece of Paradise from local cultural abundance onto the world stage,” Samosir Regent, Vandiko Timotius Gultom stated.
Photo: Bureau for Communication, Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency.
During the closing series, activities included the planting of 100 tree seedlings and the symbolic handover of 2,000 tilapia fingerlings by General Manager of the Toba Caldera Geopark Management Body, Azizul Kholis, to the Minister of Creative Economy to be released into Lake Toba. The event was also coupled with the presentation of 27 choir competition awards and the North Sumatra Governor's revolving trophy for the Grand Prix winner.
The series of events concluded with a performance by 2,000 choir participants singing “O Tano Batak”, followed by the chant “From Toba to the World – Gema dari Toba” and a fireworks display.
“We are deeply grateful to the Ministry of Creative Economy for supporting our event. Toba Caldera Culture Festival and Samosir International Choir Competition provide a collaborative space for the younger generation to create while introducing the charm of Samosir to the international stage. Through the passion of mutual cooperation Marsiadapari, this festival is expected to keep growing to embrace various creative economy subsectors across the entire Lake Toba region,” Chairman of the TCCF Steering Committee, Mora Nasution stated.
Photo: Bureau for Communication, Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency.
Also present at the event were Regent of Samosir, Vandiko Timotius Gultom; Head of the North Sumatra Provincial Department of Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy, Terang Dewi; Honorary Consul of Korea, Parlindungan Purba; alongside several officials within the North Sumatra Provincial Government.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Creative Economy was accompanied by Deputy for Media Creativity, Cecep Rukendi; Special Staff to the Minister for Strategic Issues and Inter-Institutional Affairs, Rian Firmansyah; and Senior Advisor to the Minister for Media Issues and Public Opinion, Hasbil Mustaqim Lubis.
Kiagoos Irvan Faisal
Head of Bureau for Communication
Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency
