Festivals in Bali

Witness the grandeur of music, art, and culture that kicks off with a grand opening parade at the Bali Arts Festival. The festival features uniquely celebrated Balinese talents across Bali and other Indonesian provinces. A treat to art enthusiasts, photographers, and anyone with a knack for experiencing different cultures, the Bali Arts Festival hosts a collection of events.

Along the coast of Padanggalak, with the onset of the windy season, the Balinese sky is cloaked with kites of all forms, shapes, and sizes, from simple to three-dimensional figures of gods, goddesses, animals, etc. Village teams fly the three traditional forms, the fish-shaped bebean, the leaf-shaped pecukan and the long-tailed janggan, each launched by a crew of dozens with its own gamelan alongside.

Observed as ‘The Day of Silence,’ the Nyepi Eve festival occurs on the third day of the six-day-long Balinese New Year’s celebration. As the name suggests, the Nyepi Eve ensures a completely silent day with every shop, commercial sector, transportation, etc., shut down. Some of the obligations of this festival include: 1) Prohibition of loud audio, including indoors.

The Nusa Dua Fiesta is a visually attractive festival with various dance shows, food stalls, and music concerts. With countless lanterns of varied shapes and sizes, the Nusa Dua sky is adorned through the celebrations. It is held on the beachfront of the resort area in the south of Bali, and gathers Balinese dance troupes, kite flying, watersports and craft stalls into one walkable strip.

The Sanur Village Festival is a community event founded by the Sanur Development Foundation. This village feast displays the relationship between man and nature in a tech and A. I (Artificial Intelligence) driven world. The Sanur Village Festival hosts various theme-based activities based on themes, exhibitions, art and cultural attractions, and many environmental activities.

The Bali Spirit Festival functions on the core mantra of ‘Tri Hita Karana’ or ‘to live in harmony with the spiritual, social, and natural environment.’ The Bali Spirit Festival offers a chance to entwine oneself with yoga, dance, soothing bhakti music, healing, and sacred celebration, enabling self-introspection.

A mega beach festival running along the Legian beachfront, starting from Stones Hotel to the Padma Resort on Legian Beach, the Legian Beach Festival is one of the most anticipated Balinese beach festivals. Organised by the Legian Village community and supported by the Ministry of Tourism, the Legian Beach Festival features over a hundred booths displaying local craftsmanship.

The Chinese New Year is a significant Balinese celebration due to its strong Chinese historical ties. Chinese and Buddhist temples, the ‘Klenteng’ are vibrantly decorated in the festive aura. The Chinese New Year in Bali showcases energetic performances of the Chinese ‘Barongsai’; the Lion and Dragon dance troops.

The Ubud Food Festival, presented by ABC, is a three-day food enthusiast's escape. Characterized by some of the top international and local chefs, the UFF is one of the most anticipated culinary festivals on the continent. The Ubud Food Festival houses cooking workshops, food forums, wine-tasting sessions, and more. It features a tantalizing variety of satisfying delicacies.

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival is Southeast Asia’s most prominent annual literary festival for exchanging words, ideas, and cross-cultural dialogue. It aims towards achieving a world that respects the inspirations, ideas, and concerns of each other to overcome geographical and cultural barriers.

Strictly reserved for those 19 years and above, Ultra Music Festival brings Ultra Bali as one of its biggest Asian electronic music celebrations, attended by eminent musicians and DJs worldwide. It is a beachside music festival, promising you a night full of featuring the world’s best EDM DJs, electronic music, unmatched stage set-ups, and most of all, fun.

Initiated in 2015, the Bali Blues Festival was an effort to regenerate Blues Music in collaboration with Indonesia Tourism and Development. Featuring Balinese local and national musicians, The Bali Blues Festival promotes the musical genre of Blues across different generations with fantastic outdoor shows and performances.

Ubud Village Jazz Festival is a favourite with jazz lovers, which promises every jazz genre. Featuring local and international casts worldwide, the Ubud Village Jazz festival gained momentum as one of Bali’s most important cultural and community events.

One of the biggest and oldest Indonesian music and art festivals, Soundrenaline brings the country’s budding rock and roll music to the limelight. A two-day festival, Soundrenaline overflows with local and global concerts and exhibitions of music, art, and photography along with irresistible regional cuisines.

Held in Seminyak, the Gypsy Land Music Festival is a techno hub of its own kind spread across this three-hectare Balinese plot. The Gypsy Land Music Festival is a themed costume party usually that of good vs evil. The significant focus of this music festival is the designs, props and overall entertainment.

At the criss-cross of art and ecology, the Air Festival emerges with an underground music culture amongst the Balinese landscapes. With broad genres of music, the Air Festival annually improvises with varied themes, aiming toward the conservation of the Balinese land. Although the Air Festival has reached a global pedestal, it is one of Bali's best-kept secrets. Date: TBA

Marking the beginning of many prominent Balinese festivals, The Galungan signifies the triumph of ‘dharma’ over ‘adharma’ (good over evil). Kuningan, the last day of Galungan is believed to be the day ancient spirits return. Hindu devotees suspend distinctive ‘penjor’ or bamboo poles in front of their homes as symbols of the essence of Galungan (good winning over evil).

Celebrated once every two hundred and ten days, Saraswati Day is regarded as the ‘Knowledge Day’ for Balinese Hindus. Goddess Saraswati is considered to be the deity of wisdom, art, and music, while the day is composed of offerings made to the holy books and scrolls. People avoid reading or writing on Saraswati Day as these texts are offered to the Goddess for her blessings.

Melasti is a millennial ritual regarded as a purification ceremony, held three days before the Saka New Year, according to the Balinese Calendar. Melasti, held on the beach's edge, is believed to cleanse the world from sin, aiming to purify oneself by throwing away the bad 'karma' into the ocean water.

Purnama Kedasa is a frequent festival as it occurs upon a full moon. Balinese Hindus celebrate with grand ceremonies, believing that God descended upon the Earth to bless the Earthlings and bring prosperity among them. Thousands of devotees flock to ‘Besakih’, the mother temple, for the ‘Betara Turun Kabeh’ holy ritual, an invitation to deify ancestors and gods onto Earth.

Pagerwasi Day is a midnight celebration three days after Saraswati Day. On this night, Balinese devotees indulge in rituals to strengthen their souls and minds against evil by building a robust personal fortification. The term Pagerwasi is derived from two Balinese words, ‘Pager’ and ‘Wasi,’ meaning fence and iron, respectively.

Balinese hold great value for animals, and Tumpek Kandang is a day reserved to worship Sang Hyang Rare-Angon, the deity of animals. Some essential rituals include washing, dressing, and feeding domestic animals such as cows, pigs, chickens, and ducks, which are further offered to prayers.

Tumpek Uduh celebrates gratitude towards nature for plantations and a fruitful harvest. Tumpek Uduh is a day dedicated to offering respect to nature, trees, and plants. As the Balinese economy is highly dependent on coconut palms, they form a significant part of the Tumpek Uduh rituals.

The Ngrupuk Parade or Ogoh Ogoh Parade is held before the Bali island goes into hiding for Nyepi. During the Ogoh Ogoh parade, Balinese Hindus carry out celebrations with drums and torches. The highlight of this parade is the giant wood, bamboo and paper monster dolls made in varied artistic shapes and sizes representing harmful societal.

Odalan is a temple celebration held at the mother temple of ‘Pura Besakih’, the largest Hindu temple in Bali. Pura Besakih is a millennium-old temple that witnesses varied Balinese communities coming together in prayer and processions during Odalan. An Odalan marks a temple’s own anniversary on the 210-day Balinese pawukon calendar, so with thousands of temples on the island one falls somewhere almost every week.

Also referred to as Saniscara Keliwon Tegeh, Tumpek Landep takes place every 210 days according to the Pawukon Calendar in Bali. During the Tumpek Landep, devotees make ceremonial offerings made of metal. The village temple overflows with special prayers and offerings made in the belief that the blessings in return would bring them luck and safety. Dates: TBA