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City branding is a strategic approach to enhancing a city's competitiveness by leveraging unique local characteristics to create a strong and distinctive identity. This study examines the role of semanggi—a traditional Surabaya dish—as a cultural icon in strengthening the city's branding. Although semanggi carries deep symbolic meaning and historical significance for Surabaya’s residents, its potential as a city branding asset remains underutilized in formal tourism and marketing programs. Adopting a qualitative exploratory case study design, data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis involving local stakeholders, small and medium-sized culinary enterprises, cultural figures, and municipal representatives. Thematic analysis identified five key dimensions of semanggi’s role in city branding: (1) visual representation in urban spaces and promotional media; (2) cultural narratives and heritage preservation; (3) community pride and participation; (4) local economic resilience; and (5) strategic promotion by municipal authorities. The findings suggest that integrating semanggi into Surabaya’s branding strategy can reinforce cultural identity, differentiate the city in competitive tourism markets, and promote sustainable local entrepreneurship. The study contributes to the theoretical discourse on culinary-based place branding and offers practical recommendations for incorporating local wisdom into destination marketing. Limitations include the single-case scope and qualitative focus, pointing to opportunities for comparative and mixed-method research in the future.  

This study examines the management of Kediri Nite Carnival (KNC), an annual event organized by the Kediri City government to commemorate the city's anniversary and showcase local arts, culture, and tourism potential. This research uses qualitative methodology and employs literature analysis, observation, and documentation as case study methods. The Miles and Huberman interactive model is used to analyze the data. The Kediri City Tourism Office has implemented each stage of event management according to Goldblatt's concept: research, design, preparation, coordination, and evaluation. The focus of the research was to determine the objectives and target audience; the design highlighted the local cultural theme “Exotic Flower in Paradise”; planning included budget planning, scheduling, and promotional strategies through social media and collaboration with local media; coordination was carried out through task distribution and cross-team communication; and evaluation assessed the success of the event based on community feedback and its effects on tourism and the local economy. The research results show that KNC plays an important role in improving the public's perception of Kediri City as a creative and cultured city. However, efforts to increase the number of tourist visits in the long term still need to be made. It is hoped that these findings will help the local government develop a sustainable tourism communication plan.