Dusk on Jalan Tunjungan as the First Tarawih Calls Begin
The call to prayer rolls across central Surabaya and the city exhales. On Jalan Tunjungan, office workers who have been fasting since dawn drift toward the old colonial-era facades and the food carts that have materialised along the pavement. The smell of grilled chicken, coconut milk and fried shallots hangs in the warm air. This is the first evening of Ramadan, and Surabaya — Indonesia's second-largest city — marks it the way it marks everything: loudly, communally, and with food at the centre. If the Umm al-Qura calendar holds, the fast will begin on 8 February 2027, a Monday. In Indonesia the observed date is confirmed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs after hisab and rukyah, so treat the eighth as your planning anchor rather than a certainty.
Eat Your Way Through the Pasar Kaget at Dusk
During Ramadan, temporary night markets — pasar kaget, "surprise markets" — spring up in open lots, along side streets and in car parks across Surabaya. They open in the afternoon and run deep into the night, and they are where the city eats. Go hungry and go early enough to walk the whole length before you commit.
- Look for ta'jil stalls selling dates, kolak (sweet coconut-milk stew with banana or pumpkin), and es buah to break the fast at maghrib.
- Seek out nasi krawu, Surabaya's own dish — rice with shredded beef, serundeng and sambal — and lontong kupang, a local speciality of rice cakes with tiny mussels in a tangy sauce.
- Finish with rujak cingur, the East Javanese salad of cucumber, tofu, tempeh and cow's snout in a thick palm-sugar and peanut dressing.
- The markets are family affairs: expect plastic chairs, strings of bare bulbs, and vendors calling out prices over the sound of frying.
Tarawih, Ngabuburit and the Rhythm of the City
Surabaya's Ramadan days run on a different clock. Afternoon is for ngabuburit — killing time before the fast breaks — and the city fills its hours with wandering, snacking and socialising. In the evening, mosques across the city hold tarawih, the extended night prayers, and the largest fill their courtyards and spill onto the streets. The Masjid Al-Akbar, with its blue dome and tall minarets in the south of the city, is the landmark where the scale of Surabaya's Ramadan is easiest to grasp. Dress modestly, remove your shoes, and you are welcome to observe from the edges.
When to Go and How to Plan Around the Date
The start of Ramadan moves roughly eleven days earlier each year on the Gregorian calendar. For 2027, the Umm al-Qura calculation places the start on Monday, 8 February. Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs announces the confirmed date after observing the new moon, and the date can shift by a day. Book flights and accommodation for the days either side, and keep your first evening free — that is when the pasar kaget are at their busiest and the atmosphere is at its most electric. Note that Start of Ramadan is an official public holiday in Afghanistan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Maldives; in Indonesia the first day is observed with its own national arrangements.
Beyond the First Night: A City That Keeps Going
Ramadan in Surabaya is not a single evening but a month-long shift in the city's habits. Malls along Jalan Basuki Rahmat and around Tunjungan host evening bazaars and entertainment through the month. Community groups organise bukber — shared iftar meals — in neighbourhoods across the city, often in the streets themselves, with long mats laid out and everyone contributing a dish. If you are invited, accept: it is the most direct way to understand how Surabaya observes the month. Use the daylight hours to explore the old town around Jalan Rajawali and the Arab quarter of Ampel, where the mosque and its surrounding lanes are quieter than usual but no less atmospheric.
Start With the First Evening
Plan your trip around 8 February 2027, arrive a day or two early, and let your first night in Surabaya be an unstructured one: walk out at dusk, follow the crowds and the smell of frying oil, and eat whatever the nearest stall is cooking. Confirm the official start date with Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs closer to the time, book your accommodation near the centre, and give yourself the whole month — or at least the first week — to fall into the city's Ramadan rhythm.