BaliSpirit – Music, Wellness and Yoga Festival Bali
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BaliSpirit Festival summons yoga enthusiasts, dancers, musicians and spirituality seekers from all corners of the globe. The seven-day, eight-night festival, with over 5,000 attendees from 60 nationalities, offers a concentrated schedule of events, workshops, concerts, seminars and children’s activities, all taking place at an amazing venue that embodies the spirit of Bali.
Given how Elizabeth Gilbert put Ubud on the map with her bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, Bali Spirit is particularly popular as a girls’ getaway festival. The porous, laid back nature of the event and the area make it a perfect place to meander and to explore.
At the daytime Dharma Fair and the Night Market there are a variety of vendors who will teach you how to live a healthier life.
+ More information > Wikipedia • Wikivoyage
*Ubud (map), a town in central Bali of around 75,000 people (2020), is far removed from the nightlife bikini scene in Kuta, and is regarded as the cultural centre of Bali. It is famous as an arts and crafts hub, and much of the town and nearby villages seems to consist of artists’ workshops and galleries.
BaliSpirit Festival offers a robust yoga schedule from 7am-6pm daily, with a variety of suitable workshops and styles of yoga such as Anusara, Yin, Kundalini, Hatha, Tantra, Mantra, Prana flow, Vinyasa, Astanga and many more.
Awaken your spirit, free your mind and reconnect wiht your body through dance and movement. From Ecstatic Dance, to West African Dance or Embodied Dance workshops, the BaliSpirit Festival offers a variety of classes, encouraging positivity and life-affirming fun.
Music is the heart and soul of the Festival and the beats and tunes are ever-present. Each night there is a unique music conert – soulful Bhakti music, high-vibe world music and internaional DJs with ecstatic dance sets.
In addition, the daytime Coco Love Stage located in the Dharma Fair features a dynamic festival vibe, including live music and daily Balinese dance performances, while various yoga and dance workshops incorporate live music as well.
A central area of the Festival grounds are the infamous Healing Huts, featuring renowned healers, offering sessions in a variety of ares such as Cranial Sacral, Reiki, Oneness Blessings, Balinese Traditional Healing, Chakra Balancing, Esalen Massage and Tama-Do Sound Medicine, to name a few.
In addition, healing is layered into most yoga classes and workshops, so be sure to check out some of the Sound Healing Meditation, Yin Yoga and Breathwork classes for a different (but equally amazing!) healing experience.
With over 70 vendor booths between the vibrant daytime and nighttime markets, the BaliSpirit Festival features local Balinese vendors who emphasize health and wellness through organic and healthy foods, crafts, clothing and merchandise.
GETTING AROUND UBUD (balispiritfestival.com)
BUS > There are direct bus services to Bali from all major cities on Java and Lombok that link with ferries for sea crossings. These are cheap and easy, but slow. Perama bus company is a good option for budget travelers. There are no Perama bus from Java, only from Mataram, Lombok. Kura-Kura Bus is a public shuttle service that operates from southern Bali to Ubud, but oriented towards tourists as it stops at hotels and places of interest.
RAIL > PT Kereta Api – the government-owned train company, runs trains across most of Java and some parts of Sumatra. + tiket.com (*Rail transport in Indonesia)
AIRPORTS > Ngurah Rai International Airport (Denpasar International Airport) roughly 45 minutes away from Denpasar. Most visitors to Indonesia arrive at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali or Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta.
WATERWAYS > Ferries cross from Ketapang (*Banyuwangi) on the island of Java to *Gilimanuk (map) in western Bali every 15 minutes, 24 hr every day. These are very cheap, and the crossing takes just 30 minutes (plus sometimes considerable waiting around for loading and unloading).
The largest company is the state-owned PELNI, whose giant ferries visit practically every major inhabited island in Indonesia on lengthy journeys that can take a week from end to end. ASDP runs fast ferries (Kapal Ferry Cepat, rather amusingly abbreviated KFC) on a number of popular routes. Indonesia Ferry >> indonesiaferry.co.id