The annual Sanur Village Festival is back, and once again bringing the community together to celebrate! After two years of Covid shutdowns, the return of the festival marked the beginning of better times in Bali, and had the village out to party and celebrate Sanur, thriving once more.
Sanur’s annual festival is a joyous gathering of community, food, music, entertainment and village culture. Food stalls line the festival grounds, giving the smaller warungs a chance to show off their delicious food alongside big-name restaurants and bars who create downsized replica venues for the festival. It’s a chance to cruise the festival, with a glass of delicious wine from Hatten Wines in hand, trying new flavours and traditional food offerings.
There is entertainment everywhere you look, games and prizes for both adults and children, and fairground rides to keep the littlest ones happy. Wander the market stalls selling all kinds of produce, fresh fruit, clothes, jewellery, sarongs, candles, incense, and so many other treasures. You can even duck into a vaccination point and get your Covid booster! And if that’s not enough there is entertainment going all day and night with traditional Balinese dancing and music, comedy acts, and excellent bands from all over Bali singing a mix of Indonesian music and popular cover songs.
There is nothing like the magic of the festival at night, the stalls are lit up with thousands of twinkling fairy lights, and the brightly lit stage catches the colours and sparkle of the costumes and performers. The stunning Balinese dancers and haunting music greet revellers as they arrive, with the party really kicking off when the live bands and music start.
This year there were two main stages: the Sewana stage and the Surya stage. On the last night of the festival the Sewana stage hosted Bali Reggae Boys featuring Ida, and the Surya stage saw Jun Bintang and the Strongking, and crowd faves Joni Agung & Double T had them on their feet and dancing.
Thousands of people descend upon the festival every day, between the food, music, stalls and the carnival atmosphere; it is the event of the year in Sanur. This year it was even more special to welcome the community back to the festival, reflect on what we’ve missed over the last two years, and look forward to a brighter future and many more years of festival fun to come.
