Calendar
Bali ceremony calendar 2027, for photographers
Most of Bali's ceremonies don't follow the Western calendar. Some run on a 210-day cycle, some on the lunar months, and some are set by each village. Here are the ones most worth photographing in 2027, with dates where they're fixed and best estimates where they're not.
Four of them have a week built around them in the workshop I'm developing. The rest are simply worth knowing about if you photograph in Bali.
Fixed set by the Balinese calendar. Estimate set by the village — confirm before booking flights.
January
Galungan
Bali's biggest festival. Every road lined with penjor, families in their best clothes at temple. The day before (12 January) is Penampahan, spent preparing offerings and the festive meal.
Kuningan, Mekotek and Mesuryak
Kuningan closes the ten days of Galungan. In Munggu, men build towers of wooden poles in the street for Mekotek. In Bongan, families throw money in the air for the ancestors in Mesuryak.
Ngerebong
Eight days after Kuningan. Barong and rangda from across Kesiman circle the temple in the late afternoon, with people in trance, giant decorated penjor and the Poleng Kesiman dance.
February
Ngerebeg
Children and young men paint themselves as spirits and parade around the village from about midday to mid-afternoon, the day before the Pura Duur Bingin temple festival.
Pucak Padang Dawa barong gathering
Villages from across Bali bring their sacred barong to have them blessed. Runs about three days.
Tumpek Krulut
Gamelan instruments are dressed and given offerings.
March
Melasti
Villages carry their temple treasures to the sea or a lake to be purified. Each village chooses its own day.
A planned week is built around thisOgoh-ogoh parade
Giant demon effigies carried through the streets the night before Nyepi.
A planned week is built around thisNyepi, Day of Silence
The island shuts down for 24 hours, including the airport. Nothing to photograph, and you mustn't. Plan around it.
Omed-omedan and Mebuug-buugan
The day after Nyepi. Young people of Sesetan push together and kiss in the street (Omed-omedan). In Kedonganan, villagers cover each other in mud in the mangroves (Mebuug-buugan).
Ngusaba Kedasa, Pura Ulun Danu Batur
The main festival of the lake temple. On the peak day, a huge procession circles the temple with gamelan groups and Baris dancers.
Bhatara Turun Kabeh, Besakih
The biggest annual ceremony at Bali's mother temple, on the same full moon, running for weeks. Pilgrims from every part of the island.
April
Tumpek Kandang
Livestock day. Cows, pigs and chickens are washed, dressed in cloth and given offerings.
Ngemumu
Men from 14 banjar carry flaming torches of dried coconut leaves through the village to the cemetery. The next day is Usaba Dalem, followed by a village Nyepi.
May
Tumpek Wayang
Shadow puppet day. Wayang performances and purification rites for children born in the wuku of Wayang.
Perang ketupat, Apit Yeh
The rice cake war at the peak of the village usaba.
A planned week is built around thisUsaba Sumbu, Bungaya
Harvest festival where towering offerings of fruit and crops are raised at the temple, with the Rejang Deha danced by the village's unmarried young women.
Saraswati and Banyu Pinaruh
Saraswati blesses books and learning, with schoolchildren in temple dress. The next morning (Banyu Pinaruh), people bathe at beaches and springs at dawn.
June
Pagerwesi
In the north, Pagerwesi is celebrated almost as big as Galungan, with penjor and family temple visits.
Tumpek Landep
Metal objects get offerings: cars and motorbikes dressed in palm-leaf decorations. Good street photography.
Perang pandan (mekare-kare)
Young men duel with bundles of thorny pandan leaves in the Bali Aga village of Tenganan, part of the month-long Usaba Sambah. Tenganan uses its own calendar, so the date changes every year.
Bali Arts Festival
Month-long festival. The opening street parade in Denpasar is the one to photograph.
July
Tumpek Wariga (Uduh)
Trees get offerings, 25 days before Galungan.
Kite season
Banjar teams fly giant traditional kites. The Bali Kite Festival is usually in July.
Makepung buffalo races
Pairs of decorated buffalo racing carts, in the far west.
August
Penampahan and Galungan
Penampahan is the preparation day — the festive meal cooked, offerings finished, penjor raised along every road. Galungan follows, and families carry offerings to the temples from early morning.
A planned week is built around thisPura Lempuyang temple festival
The day after Galungan.
Kuningan, Mekotek and Mesuryak
Kuningan again, ten days after Galungan, with the pole towers at Munggu and the money throwing at Bongan.
Ngerebong
The Kesiman barong and rangda circle the temple again, eight days after Kuningan.
September
Pucak Padang Dawa barong gathering
Villages from across Bali bring their sacred barong to the temple to be blessed.
A planned week is built around thisNgerebeg
Children paint themselves as spirits and parade around the village.
Tumpek Krulut
Gamelan instruments are dressed and given offerings.
October to December
Tumpek Kandang
Livestock day again, 210 days on.
Tumpek Wayang
Shadow puppet day again.
Saraswati
Books and learning blessed.
Seasons: planting, harvest and work
Bali has no single harvest. Each subak (rice irrigation cooperative) sets its own planting times, and it varies with altitude. As a rough guide:
- Rainy season planting: around December to January, harvest around March to April.
- Dry season planting: around April to May, harvest around July to August.
- Flooded terraces and planting make the strongest pictures. Harvest brings threshing and drying in the fields. Tell me what you want to see and I'll find a subak that's at that stage.
- Salt making (Amed and Kusamba): dry season, roughly April to October.
- Coffee and cloves (Munduk and Kintamani highlands): mid-year, cloves often drying along the roads from around July to September.
Year-round
- Temple festivals (odalan): every temple has one every 210 days, so on any given day, there's one somewhere.
- Cremations (ngaben): they happen all year. Large ones are usually announced a few weeks ahead.
- Markets and fishing boats: every morning.
How to photograph ceremonies respectfully
- Wear a sarong and temple sash. Always.
- Never stand higher than the priest or the offerings, and don't walk in front of people praying.
- No flash, especially near anyone in trance.
- Ask before photographing someone closely.
- Some moments aren't for cameras. If you're told no, that's the answer.
- Nothing is photographed on Nyepi.
Why these dates matter
Four of them have a week built around them in the workshop I'm developing: March, May, August and September. The calendar is the reason those weeks are shaped the way they are.