Sekaten 2016 – Celebrating the birth of the prophet Muhammad

The Javanese annual ceremony, Sekaten will take place between 5th to 12 December 2016. The week long traditional ceremonial celebrates Mawlid, the birthday of the prophet Muhammad, with a lively festival, procession and night market. The festival celebrations take place in the town of Yogyakarta, at the north square and is simultaneously celebrated at the north square located in the town of Surakarta. While distinctly a spiritual festival, it does draw plenty of visitors, both locals and foreigners who come to watch. Many of the tourists pre-book their stay at the Solo hotel in Surakarta, the Alila Solo, to view the entire ceremony, which runs over the course of 10 days. Sekaten was first initiated by the late Sultan Hamengkubuwana I, the founder of the Yogyakarta Sultanate, to encourage and support the Islamic faith.