Festivals in Bali

Hindu Bali thrives on its festivals and festivities and there really isn’t a week of the year that passes where something is celebrated. Because the Balinese tend to split the year in two and celebrate things in six month cycles, most Balinese festivals and celebrations occur at least twice a year.

Bali is a Hindu island so the festival aesthetic here differs from the rest of Buddhist Southeast Asia. An Indian flavour takes hold with giant images of Ganesh and other Hindu deities being floated into the surf and all kinds of dramatic and colourful displays of dancing and self-sacrifice.

Animal lovers should be aware that live animal sacrifice is often a part of Balinese Hindu festivals, but at the other end of the scale is modern Balinese festivals celebrating new works of art, music and dance. These festivals are more commercially oriented and take place via commerce guilds and local groups of shops and businesses.

There is no real festival peak period in Bali since festivals take place all throughout the year. Visitors will usually stumble onto one kind of festival or another no matter what time of the year they visit, and even private family celebrations often spill out onto the streets and beaches of this most festive island.

Bali’s biggest and holiest festival is the Galungan festival. It lasts for 10 days and is celebrated across the whole island. Galungan is a holiday period marked by the fitting of decorated bamboo poles to the outside of houses and feasting and fasting.

The day after the first new moon of the ninth month of the Balinese calendar ushers in the Nyepi festival. Visitors will not have any trouble knowing when the Nyepi is on, as it is traditionally marked by silence across the normally bustling and noisy island.

The festival of Saraswati is a time to pay homage to the deities of knowledge, art and literature, mainly the Dewi Sarawasti. This festival takes place over one day and