Holidays and celebrations

Chinese New Year (January/February)

Chinese New Year is a big festival anywhere in the world where communities of people with Chinese ancestry reside. In Indonesia, the style and tone of festivities vary from region to region.

Balinese New Year (5 March)

Nyepi, Bali’s New Year, is an Official Day of Silence. Throughout the island, activity comes to a halt and no fires may be lit. Ceremonies are held in Bali on the day before to purify the island of evil spirits.

Hari Saraswati (23 April)

Held on the last day of the Balinese Pawukon calendar, Saraswati day celebrates Dewi Saraswati, the Goddess of Science and Knowledge. Offerings are made to books and books are not supposed to be read on this day.

Hari Pagerwesi (April and November)

Held every six months, this holiday marks the day long ago on which there was a big battle between good and evil. The festival is held to allow people to strengthen themselves against evil.

Penampahan Galungan (July)

Another Balinese festival aimed at protecting humans, this celebration aims to purify both the inner and external environments of people. Animals, particularly pigs and chickens, are sacrificed as offerings and then turned into tasty dishes. Balinese kids relish this holiday as they look forward to plenty of good food. This is just one day in ten-day series of spiritual days.

Penampahan Kuningan (July)

Another day of sacrifice, Penampahan Kuningang takes place at the end of the 10-day Galungan and Kuningan holiday cycle marked every 210 days. On this day, the preparations are made for Kungingan Day.

Idul Fitri (August)

Eid al-Fitr, known in Indonesia as Idul Fitri, is a three-day Muslim festival marking the end of an annual month-long period of fasting known as Ramadan. This is the biggest holiday in Indonesia. Throughout the country, many people travel to their hometowns for these holidays. Idul Fitri takes place around the end of August.

Christmas (25 December)

Like anywhere else, the people in Indonesia tend to enjoy the fun of Christmas Day. There are enough Christians in Indonesia to warrant the celebration of this holiday and the number of foreign holidaymakers in Bali ensures this is a big time of year on the island.