The August 17th Ceremony Ticket War Is Fiercer Than a Coldplay Concert

Less than three hours later, the quota for attending the 80th Indonesian Independence Day ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta was already full. "Registration for the ceremony at the Merdeka Palace has closed," read the information displayed on the front page of the website pandang.istanapresiden.go.id, Monday (September 4, 2025), just before 1:00 p.m. WIB.

In fact, the only site provided for the public to obtain invitations to participate in the commemoration ceremony of Independence Day with President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming was only opened at 10:00 AM WIB.

On this year's Independence Day commemoration, the Palace provided space for 8,000 citizens interested in attending the ceremony for the Proclamation Moment in the morning or the lowering of the Red and White Flag ceremony in the afternoon. However, obtaining one of the thousands of invitations turned out to be not easy. Citizens had to "war" or "fight" in the air without any signs to know the status of ticket availability.

One of those participating in the invitation war for the ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta was Vidi Nurcholis (54). Since 10:00 a.m., he had been monitoring the site pandang.istanapresiden.go.id. However, from that moment on, until more than two hours later, he was unable to access the page.

"I refresh the site every minute on three devices. But I can't access the website," Vidi said when contacted Monday evening.

After struggling with three devices, Vidi was finally able to access the site at 12:40 PM WIB. He immediately filled out the form and uploaded a photo of his identity card (KTP) along with a selfie holding the KTP, which were the requirements for registration.

Unfortunately, the registration quota for participating in the commemoration ceremony of the Proclamation Countdown at 10:00 AM WIB has been exhausted. The only remaining option is to attend the lowering of the Red and White Flag ceremony at 5:00 PM WIB.

This is not actually a big issue for Vidi. He feels that this is a special year, and therefore he does not want to merely watch the independence day commemoration ceremony on television as he has in previous years. For this reason, he is still trying to register as a participant in the afternoon ceremony.

"Even, I only turn on the TV broadcast at home once a year. This time, the 80th anniversary feels special. According to articles from several portals, this year's celebration will be more grand and festive. And I believe that. Moreover, we can also participate in celebrating Bastille Day, so the Independence Day will definitely be more lively, which is why I want to have a firsthand experience," said Vidi.

However, the expectations have once again not been met. After processing the registration, he received a notification stating, "Failed. We apologize, the quota for the flag lowering ceremony is no longer available."

The difficulty in accessing the site pandang.istanapresiden.go.id since the beginning of the opening and the lack of information regarding the remaining quota that could be monitored directly made Vidi wonder about the availability of tickets to attend the ceremony at the Palace.

Moreover, he is not the only one who has failed. He admitted that his friend has experienced a similar fate. "I am starting to doubt whether there is actually a quota for the general public," Vidi stated.

Vidi also compared his experience competing in the ticket war for the Coldplay concert and the Alfarun running event. Besides the easily accessible websites, information on remaining quotas for both events can be monitored on their respective websites. Even if you don't make it into the quota, many running events still employ a ballot system, which is drawn and the results announced at a predetermined time.

Not only Vidi, but several netizens also expressed their disappointment for failing to obtain tickets to attend the ceremony at the Palace. This sentiment was conveyed by account holders @araiedne, @4everwithgyu, @njenolee, and @priniiittt on social media platform X.

Despite many failures, it is not uncommon for those who successfully receive invitations to showcase them on X. Accounts such as @PrinceBerkuda, @pearlthingx, and @lalulelooo, for instance, uploaded screenshots displaying their acceptance notifications.

For Indonesians, attending the August 17th ceremony at the Palace in person is an unforgettable moment and experience. To that end, several parties are offering ticket "war" services on the website pandang.istanapresiden.go.id. For example, the accounts @tixjourney, @imnotwitch, and @kucantiktrulala are on X.

The account @tixjourney on Monday at 12:50 uploaded a screenshot displaying the registration requirements to obtain an invitation to the ceremony. In the same post, it also announced to netizens to send a private message if they were interested in using its services.

The account @lalulelooo is one of those who claimed to have used the services of @tixjourney to obtain tickets for the ceremony. "Thank you @tixjourney for helping me realize my father's wish to have a ceremony at the Palace. Although he didn't get the upgrade, at least he got the downgrade," wrote the account @lalulelooo in a post on Monday, around 2:30 PM.

Responding to public enthusiasm, Deputy Minister of State Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Juri Ardiantoro, when contacted Monday evening, said that when the site pandang.istanapresiden.go.id displayed the registration closed information, it meant the invitation quota for the ceremony had been exhausted. Previously, the committee for the 80th Indonesian Independence Day had indeed provided space for 8,000 invitees to attend the morning and afternoon ceremonies.

In addition to participating in the ceremony, the participants also had the opportunity to join the people's party held at the Presidential Palace. Throughout the People's Party, they could enjoy a variety of traditional Indonesian foods for free. Various entertainments were also provided at the Palace Complex.

However, Juri said that, seeing the public's persistence in competing for invitations to the Independence Day ceremony, the Palace is considering increasing the number of participants. The plan is to have two more opportunities to register through the website pandang.istanapresiden.go.id. The ticket war will reopen on Tuesday (August 5, 2025).

So, are you ready to go back to war?