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Bali Arts Festival to offer up to 180 performances
As part of his tight campaign schedule, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the annual Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar on June 13
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As part of his tight campaign schedule, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the annual Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar on June 13.
The month-long festival will feature 180 art performances from 12 provinces in Indonesia and eight foreign countries - South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, India, China and Mexico and the United States.
Made Santha, secretary of the festival organizing committee, said Monday the opening of the art festival usually drew thousands of spectators, so the colorful art parade would be relocated from Puputan Badung Square to the Denpasar Art Center, as was the original concept eight years ago.
In the past few years, the opening of the festival took place at Puputan Margarana Square in Renon, Denpasar, which could not accommodate all participants at the festival. This year's budget for the festival is Rp 3.9 billion (US$381,900), which comes from the Bali provincial budget.
For 31 years, the art festival has been Bali's cultural landmark, attracting both local and foreign artists and visitors.
The people of Bali also enjoy the fanfare of the festival, which often stages rare art performances from across the archipelago.
Performances by international artists have also enriched the festival's cross-cultural exposure.
The festival will stage dance performances, theater and music activities, art exhibitions, discussions and workshops.
More importantly, it will also feature traditional folk arts.
During the opening, the committee will build three different stages in Puputan Badung Square and the Denpasar Art Center. Participants at the parade will walk along the estimated 2-kilometer stretch connecting the two places.
"The three stages are expected to disperse the crowds so the parade will run smoothly," said Santha, who is also head of arts and film at the Bali Cultural Agency.
He added the organizing committee would allow for street vendors by providing them with stalls for traditional food. Other street vendors will be allowed to operate if they use the nyuun technique to carry their food on their heads.
"We also reduce the number of stalls for handicrafts from 170 to 120 to avoid overcrowding," he said.
Perry Markus, secretary of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association, called on the local administration to improve the venues of the festival.
"This annual event is already included in many travel plans. But the venues are not managed and organized professionally," he said.
"The festival site has merely become a vendor spot for selling handicrafts and food."
