15 June, 2019
The 41st edition of this year has just begun, so it’s going to be a good refresh.
Today is the Opening Ceremony of Bali Arts Festival, you can find the post on the blog.
The Bali Arts Festival will be held this year between 15 June and 13 July.
I briefly described, more in pictures, our experience from last year.
The Bali Art Festival has emerged as a response to the rapid development of tourism, trying to prevent the destruction and disappearance of the Balinese Arts.
When you think of Indonesia, Bali is the first island that comes to your mind. With a vast Balinese culture, the inhabitants are proud of their traditions and religion. There are ceremonies every day on the streets of Denpasar.
After the Opening Ceremony, the show moved to the Bali Cultural Center (Werdhi Budaya Art Center). This place is a summary of the local architecture with a small garden and a museum of artifacts from the history of the island. Every day there are performances on several scenes, all open to the public and with free entrance.
Most of the troops come from Bali, but there are some from other islands or countries. Last year there were from China, Korea and Japan. Besides, traditional foods can also be tasted, admiring hand-made items and Balinese clothes.
We usually try to go to less touristic places and experience as much as possible from people’s culture and customs. I can say that this festival was one of them. I saw few tourists, predominantly locals, with their families who came every day, watched a play, stood at a picnic on the green spaces or ate something from the culinary corner.
Our local friends were dissatisfied with the multitude of sellers, a kind of bazaar of clothes and other merchandise. I saw it as an opportunity for them to earn money for their families. Being such an important event, they had significant sales every day.
It was a real pleasure and relaxation to lose ourselves among the participants, we could sit back and watch the shows. I admit that sometimes we took advantage of being westerners and we went to the VIP or front lodge, no one was angry in any way.
You can find the 2019 Program here.
You might also like
Bali Arts Festival Opening Ceremony
Climbing Abang Mountain in Bali
Follow me on
Leave a reply