After a two-year pause, the Ubud Food Festival returns to two venues in the hillside village of Ubud from 24 to 26 June. The 6th Ubud Food Festival will entertain locals and visitors over three days, with the organisers confident that this year will be the best year yet, according to their media releases to the local press. The founder of Ubud Food Festival, Janet DeNeefe told Bali Sun: ‘We are very happy to be able to welcome 
more chefs and culinary figures to Ubud, including Nyesha Arrington, Diana Beltran, and Tamara Chevez along with Indonesian chefs and culinary figures Fernando Sindu, Pande Egi and Vivilya Millian. The festival lineup includes over 70 events from panel discussions on foodie tourism to practical workshops featuring tastings and cooking demonstrations.” The Ubud Food Festival returning to Bali is one of many annual events relaunching in 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Last week the Bali Film Festival got underway, and the month-long Bali Arts Festival opened on 12 June, running until 10 July. “These events demonstrate Bali’s tourism is back, and we are on the road to recovery an inbound tour operator commented on the sidelines of the food festival’s launch press briefing.
Bali’s airport statistics for May show slightly more than a million visitors travelled to the island, up 64% over the same month in 2021. The airport handled just over 7,000 flights during May. In its latest weekly synopsis of trending events, Bali Update noted the island’s attractions are gearing up to welcome tourists. The Sukawati Traditional Art Market has officially opened north of Denpasar, destined to become a major shopping destination on the island. Meanwhile, leading Indonesian online travel agent, Traveloka reports that Bali continues to trend as the top travel destination for both domestic and international travellers.
Not only that, the biggest art party in bali has been held. The Bali Arts Festival 2022 (PKB 2022) returns on Sunday, 12 June 2022 for a month-long run. The 44th edition of the keystone art and cultural event of the Island of Bali will get underway with a grand parade (peed aya) commencing at 2:00 pm in front of the Monumen Perjuangan Rakyat Bali in Central Denpasar. After scaling back for two years due to the global pandemic, PKB 2022 returns with a month-long program of artistic competitions, seminars, discussions, parades, dance performances, musical presentations, orchestra performances, parades, and awards programs. The 44th Bali Arts Festival 2022 has adopted the theme “Danu Kerthi Huluning
Amreta,” meaning “Glorifying Water as the Source of Life.” Artists and performers from all the regencies and the municipality of Denpasar will present programs reflecting this theme. As in the past, artists from other provinces of Indonesia and overseas will come to Bali to perform. Writing in this year’s program, the head of Bali’s Provincial Culture Office, I Gede Arya Sugiartha, explained that local art could showcase Bali’s potential and characteristics by exploring the current PKB theme and cultural uniqueness. In this way, global transformation can occur, fulfilling Bali’s perceived role as a center of world civilization (Bali Padma Bhuana). The 44th Bali Arts Festival 2022 will close on Sunday, 10 July 2022, on the open stage of the Ardha Candra Art Center, Denpasar, with the dance drama “Tirtha Mahottama” performed by the SMKN 3 High School in collaboration with the Seni Kokar Arts Group.
PKB was first held in 1979 under the leadership of then-governor Ida Bagus Mantra, who was well known and respected as a tireless champion of Balinese culture. The first PKB stretched over two months, but the festival was shortened to only one month with the event’s evolution. The first Bali Arts Festival lasted approximately two months, from 20 June 1979 until 23 August 1979. The festival attempts to preserve cultural arts by displaying classical art that is almost extinct and unknown to most in Balinese society. The Bali Arts Festival is intended to motivate people to explore, discover and display the artistic contributions of the Balinese community. The PKB offers a variety of unique and different themes each year.
The 2022 Bali Arts Festival, held from June 12 to July 10, 2022, can help restore Bali's tourism and creative economy sectors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said. “This really drives the economy, reinvigorates and restores the tourism sector, especially the creative economy,” Uno stated while attending the opening parade of the 2022 Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar on Sunday. Uno explained that cultural arts activities can speed up the tourism recovery, therefore his party strongly supports this kind of event.
