Buleleng Festival 2026 opens with large-scale dance collaboration

The Buleleng Festival 2026 officially commenced on August 18 at the Praja Mandala Singa Ambara Raja area in Singaraja. The opening ceremony featured a large-scale collaboration of 150 dancers from three groups: Wiranjaya, Palawakya, and Truna Jaya. This performance, symbolizing “Sunia Campuhan Parisuda,” aimed to represent spiritual clarity and inner peace.

Under the theme “Uriping Rasa,” the six-day event, running from August 18 to 23, serves as a platform to preserve Buleleng’s cultural identity and stimulate the local creative economy, including MSMEs, culinary arts, and traditional crafts. During the ceremony, Bali Governor Wayan Koster presented awards to dance maestros Ni Luh Sustiawati, Luh Herawati, and Ni Luh Menek in recognition of their contributions to traditional Balinese dance.

Buleleng Regent I Nyoman Sutjidra emphasized that the festival is intended to be more than a spectacle, acting as a shared space to foster a sense of belonging and respect for ancestral culture.