The IB Fest (Islamic Banking Festival) is an annual event organized by the Student Association of Islamic Banking Study Program (HMPS-PS), FEBI, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. This year marked the fourth implementation of IB Fest, held from September 21, 2020, to November 17, 2020, under the theme “Promote Halal Lifestyle’s Trend for Better Millennial Generation through Islamic Banking”. The event featured four main events: Logo Design Competition, Essay Competition, National Seminar, and Online Khataman.

The Essay Competition was held to cultivate a critical, knowledgeable, and accomplished generation and to encourage students to actively contribute to the development of the halal industry in the country. From October 4, 2020, to November 14, 2020, a national-level essay competition had 12 participants, including both individuals and teams. The registration and submission of works were conducted from October 4 to 29, 2020. The jury assessed the essays until November 4, 2020, and selected the top 5 finalists. On November 9, 2020, the 5 finalists submitted video presentations, which were then assessed by the jury from November 9 to 13, 2020. The winners were announced on November 14, 2020, at the conclusion of the webinar.

Following the jury’s assessment, the top 3 winners were determined: Ari Purnomo Aji (PKN STAN) as the 1st place winner, Zuhda Elfairuza and team (STAI An Najah Indonesia Mandiri Sidoarjo) as the 2nd place winner, and Muhammad Abdul Manaf and team (IAIN Salatiga) as the 3rd place winner.

The National Essay Competition is expected to foster the creativity of Indonesian students during the pandemic and encourage the development of the halal lifestyle trend across various aspects of life, particularly within the Islamic banking industry and the Islamic economic sector.