Bali Arts Festival Denpasar (June-July)

Head down to Bali’s provincial capital between the months of June and July for the island’s long-running Bali Arts Festival. The opening parade is one to behold, traditionally held in Denpasar’s Puputan Renon Square (in front of the Bajra Sandhi Museum), where the whole island’s wealth of traditional dance and drama from its 8 regencies is on display. There’s also envoys from other islands in Indonesia who come to participate. Throughout the month, you can enjoy a variety of exhibits and live performances scheduled at the Taman Werdhi Budaya Arts Centre in Denpasar.

Bali Kite Festival Sanur (June-August)

The Balinese are known to go really big with their kites, and the best time to witness the skies covered with these flying giants is during the windy season, between July and August. That’s when the Bali Kites Festival takes place, with the festivity focused on the eastern coast of Padanggalak, just north of Sanur. Main preliminary events are usually held near the end of June and confirmed following favourable weather, so deciding to witness the event is usually a last-minute deal. Hundreds of competing kite troupes gather from all over the island to pilot their traditional kites, with wingspans of up to 11 meters and tail lengths of up to 240 meters or even more!

Nyepi Eve Island-wide (around March)

Nyepi, otherwise known as the ‘day of silence and seclusion’, doesn’t have much to offer for visitors as everyone stays within their homes or hotel grounds, and travel is basically forbidden. But on the evening before you’ll be able to witness the parade of giants (papier-mâché ogres that symbolise ‘bhutakala’ or negative forces), which is unlike anywhere else on the entire planet. Every Balinese household starts the evening with blessings at the family temple and continues with a ritual called the ‘pengrupukan’, where each member participates in ‘chasing u malevolent forces from their compounds, usually with a fiery bamboo torch. These ‘spirits’ are later manifested as the ‘ogoh-ogoh’ figures, to be paraded in the streets.

Galungan and Kuningan Island-wide (varies, following local calendar)

During Galungan, visitors will witness some of Bali’s best street scenes: seemingly endless rows of elaborately decorated bamboo poles. Commemorating the triumph of ‘dharma’ or good against ‘adharma’ or evil, this observance comes twice a year, as the Balinese use a 210-day calendar system known as the Pawukon. The Penampahan Galungan, or Galungan Eve, is when bamboo poles decorated with young coconut leaf decorations line the streets island-wide. This unique welcoming sight lasts until Kuningan, another associated observance that comes 10 days after Galungan.

Nusa Dua Fiesta Nusa Dua (October or November)

Nusa Dua Fiesta is a week of art exhibitions, cultural performances and sporting events that are held in the luxury beach resort area on Bali’s southeast coast. Held annually since 1996, the festival welcomes the general public to this otherwise exclusive tourism enclave, with a variety of side shows and events held in various venues throughout the area, but with opening and closing ceremonies at Nusa Dua’s landmark peninsula venue. Exhibits range from arts and handicrafts exhibitions, antique automobile shows, live music performances and food stalls featuring the best from among the five-star resorts in Nusa Dua.

Sanur Village Festival Sanur (August)

The otherwise sleepy coastal village of Sanur comes to life in August with its own week-long celebration. The main festivities are mostly focused around the Maisonette area of the Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel, but new activities are added each year around various other venues in Sanur. The festival highlights a bazaar and food festival, fashion shows, expos, tours, culinary challenges, Yoga, sports activities and environmental awareness programs, and it will also highlight an international kite festival, an exotic ‘jukung’ or traditional wooden outrigger festival, and a 5K fun run.

Bali Spirit Festival Ubud (March)

To gather with likeminded yoga instructors and practitioners of all different levels from Bali and around the world, this annual Bali festival is for you. You can enjoy numerous health and wellbeing workshops that are held in various yoga centres throughout Ubud and around Bali through different festival packages available. Besides full workshops, check out the Dharma Fair, an engaging scene full of health product bazaars with local organic food stalls, a kids’ zone where little ones can play and do fun yoga, and a stage that showcases various world music bands and soloists who help keep up the vibes throughout these daytime gatherings.

Perang Pandan East Bali (June-July, following local calendar)

Perang Pandan is one of the highlights of the village of Tenganan Pegringsingan, which is also well-known for its heritage ‘double ikat’ weave textiles. This mass coming-of-age ritual is held in honour of the Hindu god of the sky, Indra, which sees friendly duels between all male villagers, who bout each other armed with a small rattan shield in one hand and a tied packet of thorny ‘pandan’ leaves in the other. There will be blood, but interestingly, all combatants cheer and smile on without any grudge towards another! Village maidens, dressed in full regalia, as well as the well laid-out village itself, are sights to behold during your visit here. Read More…

Lively Legian Beach Festival Legian (August)

If you choose to stay in Legian around the month of August, be prepared for some festivities along the 700m-long Legian beachfront. Organised by the Legian village community and with support from the Indonesian Tourism Board, the festival features various games, competitions, exhibitions and bazaars over the course of four days. Traditional dances on the sand, surfing lessons for free or at cut prices, art installations, bartending flairs, food trucks and fashion shows, are among the highlights of the event. The rows of booths on the beach showcase many different surf and fashion outlets and restaurants in Legian with attractive discounts on products available.

Ultra Beach Bali Seminyak (September)

Ever since its debut in 2015, Ultra Beach Bali has made its home at the Potato Head Beach Club in Seminyak, as the Bali leg of the worldwide Ultra Music Festival and the Resistance World Tour. The festival brings together electronic digital music enthusiasts and partygoers with live shows that feature a bumper line-up of big-name EDM DJs, with previous performers including Alesso, Skrillex, Afrojack, Deadmau5 and Martin Garrix. The main Seminyak beachfront venue at Potato Head usually gears up with cutting-edge stage production, combined with stunning laser and visual effects and quality sound systems to pump out the tracks from world-renowned, heavyweight performers.