On Saturday, 15 June 2019, more than 4,000 performers took to the streets in Bali to mark the beginning of Bali Arts Festival. Set up to showcase the richness of Balinese culture, the parade was also enlivened by art troupes from other parts of the archipelago, such as Papua and Sumenep in East Java.
The 41st Bali Arts Festival is slated to run from 15 June to 13 July 2019. Besides traditional music and dance performances, the festival will also feature workshops, art and handicraft exhibitions, competitions and culinary events featuring authentic Balinese cuisine. Tens of thousands of people will attend, and hundreds of Balinese artists will take part in this month-long event.
According to I Wayan Koster, Bali Governor, the festival has a role in preserving Bali’s culture. “The Bali Arts Festival is an important tool to preserve and develop the unique and rich Balinese culture, an astounding legacy from our ancestors,” states Koster.
First held in 1979, Bali Arts Festival has become the biggest art festival in the Island of the Gods. This year, the event celebrates wind as a source of life through the theme “Bayu Pramana: Memuliakan Sumber Daya Angin†(Glorifying Wind Resources).
