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Jakarta Post

President to open Bali Arts Festival

The streets of downtown Denpasar will play host to the 33rd Bali Arts Festival (PKB) this Saturday afternoon, with 3,500 local, national and foreign artists kicking off the cultural celebration with a parade before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially opens the event in the evening

Luh De Suriyani (The Jakarta Post)
Denpasar
Fri, June 12, 2009

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President to open Bali Arts Festival

The streets of downtown Denpasar will play host to the 33rd Bali Arts Festival (PKB) this Saturday afternoon, with 3,500 local, national and foreign artists kicking off the cultural celebration with a parade before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially opens the event in the evening.

Bali Cultural Agency senior official I Made Santha said the street procession would start at Puputan Badung field in the heart of the city and then make its way down a two-kilometer route to its final destination at the Werddhi Budaya Arts Center, a sprawling compound in east Denpasar.

"We are expecting around 40,000 people, including foreign tourists, to turn out for the parade, so it will be very crowded," he said at a press briefing recently.

In order to provide spectators with a better opportunity to view the diverse performances during the parade, the PKB organizing committee has made a significant change to this year's street procession.

In the past, artists only performed on one elaborate stage for the high-ranking officials and foreign dignitaries. This year, the committee has erected a total of three stages so more people can enjoy the events.

"However, the performances will not take place solely at those stages. Instead, the artists will perform continuously throughout the parade," he said. The artists themselves, he said, asked for the change to be made.

The opening ceremony will take place at the Werddhi Budaya's Arddha Chandra amphitheater, followed by a performance of the colossal dance-drama Bima Swarga.

The story is an episode from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, which follows the journey of Bhima, the most powerful of the Pandawas, to hell to free the souls of his father and step-mother.

"We have formally invited the staff from every consulate in Bali to the ceremony," Santha added.

The month long annual art festival will see 14,000 artists participating in nearly 200 performances. Along with the 19 provinces sending their art troupes to joint the festivities, artists from nine foreign countries will also attend.

Japan will feature the largest foreign contingent, with four artist groups.

Santha promised this year's festival would be better than previous ones.

"We have made several improvements and changes to ensure this year's festival will be better than ever," he said.

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