Bali Art Festivals

The Bali Art Festival is the biggest annually art even on the islands. The festival usually open by the president of Republic Of Indonesia, and followed by the art parade represent each regency in Bali. 

Beside to show Balinese arts, its also invite the other country or province to participate and they also has presentation on the opening parade and the exhibition. Some province and country that usually participate are from Java, Borneo, Papua, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, etc. 

On display are trances from remote mountain slopes, forgotten or recently revived village dances, food and offering contests, classical palace dances, stars of Balinese stage, odd musical performances, "kreasi baru" (new creations) from the Indonesian Dance and Music Institute in Denpasar, as well as contemporary choreography and dance companies from other islands and from abroad.

The Bali Arts Festival is the Bali cultural event of the year, perhaps it would no be too far fetched to suggest that it is the cultural event of Indonesia. 

When tourism took off after 1965, the Balinese insisted that it followed cultural guidelines: if tourism was to be accepted, it was to be a cultural tourism, or "pariwisata budaya".

The Opening Parade

As the Balinese put it: "Tourism should be for Bali instead of Bali for tourism." At the village level, local music groups, dances and other cultural events were inventoried, then supported by a series of contests at the district and regency level. Schools of dance and art were created, in particular the Kokar conservatory and the STSI School of Dance and Music. Beside research, these schools replaced the traditional master/disciple relationship by modern methods of teaching; standardized the dance movements, produced new types of Balinese dances for tourism and modern village entertainment. 

In 1979, Bali's governor, the esteemed and loved Prof. Ida Bagus Mantera, opened the very first Bali Arts Festival on June 20th. He stated that “the Bali Arts Festival should take its place as the basic forum for the growth of our love of the arts.” As the arts are such an integral part of the culture, Prof. Mantera wanted to see it celebrated in a place that would be accessible to all. To promote this, most performances are free of charge to the public and those where tickets are necessary are sold at an affordable price to most people.

Each part of Bali has its unique art forms; the weaving of Sidemen, the jegog bamboo gamelan orchestra of Negara in WestBali and the genjek singing of Karangasem in the East. Most Balinese have never seen these forms and this venue was born to who both Balinese and visitors to Bali the rich cultural heritage this tiny island has to offer.

Beside to fed classical dances of the island, such as the legong, gambuh, kecak, barong, baris, mask dances and the like, Bali Art Festival also based on the theme around which new "dance choreography" is produced and old village dances and activities revived. Trust the Balinese. 

It will be very lucky if you are in Bali in between June-July when the Bali Art Festival are held. The opening parade usually held on Mid-June and the closing ceremony on the mid-July. This year will be the XXXIII Bali Art Festivals held on June 11 - July 10 2011. So plan yourself to be there.