Travel to Bali Island

Date : 1st-13th
Event : Festival of purification ceremonies and dances.

Date : 14th-13th July
Event : XXV Bali Arts Festival, The astounding Opening Procession takes place on the 14th at 3 p.m.

Date : 14th
Event : World Peace Music Award, Celebrating World Peace, intn'l musicians.

Date : 14th
Event : Full Moon, Ceremonies are held at every temple. Temple goers take offerings to the pedanda (priest) to be blessed and offered up to the gods.

Date : 17th
Event : Penampahan, Preparations are made for the upcoming Galungan Festival.

Date : 17th-22nd
Event : Bali Kitesurfing Big Air Madness, Blue Oasis Beach Club hosts this totally way up there' sport on Sanur Beach.

Date : 18th
Event : Galungan, A day dedicated to Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa.

Date : 19th
Event : Umanis Galungan, A day for visiting family and relatives. Prayers are for peace and forgiveness.

Date : 28th
Event : Kuningan, Homage is paid to Bali's Deified ancestors who are enshrined on Mt Agung, Mt. Maspahit, Mt. Batur, Mt. Sukawana and Mt. Uluwatu.

Artistically, Bali is a melting pot of cultures and traditions. The Balinese have a natural capacity for absorbing different cultural elements and blend them with their own, to produce dynamic new hybrids. Over the years, Bali has been the recipient of numerous influences; Chinese, Buddhist, Indian, Hindu, Javanese, and most recenly, Western. For centuries, artists and craftsmen in Bali worked under the patronage of the priests and rulling classes, decorating palaces and temples. The artists themselves never signed their work and usually lived close together in artists 'villages'.

Generally the artists did not have much room for personal expression, as their designs followed strict aesthetic and religious guidelines. With the arrival of European artists at the start of this century, this soon began to change, and local artists started developing their own individual styles

The Balinese are Hindu yet their religion is very different from that of the Indian variety. They do have a caste system, but there are no untouchables and occupation is not governed by caste. In fact, the only thing that reflects the caste system is the language which has three tiers; 95% of all the Balinese are Hindu Dharma, and speak Low or Everyday Balinese with each other; Middle Balinese is used for talking to strangers, at formal occasions or to people of the higher Ksatriya caste; High Balinese is used when talking to highest class, the Brahmana, or to a pedanda (priest). It may sound complicated, but most of the words at the low and medium levels are the same, whereas High Balinese is a mixture of Middle Balinese and Kawi, the ancient Javanese language.

Life in Bali is very communal with the organization of villages, farming and even the creative arts being decided by the community. The local government is responsible for schools, clinics, hospitals and roads, but all other aspects of life are placed in the hands of two traditional committees, whose roots in Balinese culture stretch back centuries. The first, Subak, concerns the production of rice and organizes the complex irrigation system. Everyone ho owns a sawah, or padi field, must join their local Subak, which then ensures that every member gets his fair distribution of irrigation water. The other community organization is the Banjar, which arranges all village festivals, marriage ceremonies and cremations, as well as a form community service known as Gotong Royong. Most villages have at least one Banjar and all males have to join one when they marry. Banjars, on average, have a membership of between 50 to 100 families and each Banjar has its own meeting place calles the Bale Banjar.

Geographically, Bali lies between the island of Java and Lombok and is one more than 18,000 island that makes up the Indonesian Archipelago. Bali is small, stretching approximately 140 km from east to west and 80 km from north to south. Slightly off centre, and running east to west, are a string of volcanis mountains. The tallest is Gunung Agung, which last erupted in 1963 and is 3,142 m at its highest point.

Lying just 8' south of the equator, Bali boasts a tropical climate with just two seasons, wet and dry, a year and an average annual temperature of around 28'C. The rich volcanic soail and healthy monsoon season make this island extremely fertile and a range of crops are grown here. The wide and gently sloping southern regions play hosts to Bali's farmed rice terraces, among some of the most spectacular in the world. In the hilly, northern coastal regions, the main produce is coffe, copra, spices, vegetables, cattle, and rice.

The majority of Bali's 3,000,000 people live, for the most part, in tight village communities with large extended families. The largest towns are the capital Denpasar, population approximately 250,000 and Singaraja in the north. The main tourist area is Kuta, situated near the airport. This small sleepy village became a major attraction during the tourist boom of the 70's, because of its famed white-sand beaches, the surf, and stunning sunsets.