Main Program
Julia Baird: Bright Shining
01 November 2025
Valley Stage
Three
weeks
to go!
In exactly three weeks, we will be opening the 2025 Festival. Ubud will be abuzz with excitement as authors from near and far take to the stage to share spectacular stories and inspiring ideas.
Plan Your Festival
Browse Programme
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Festival Dates: 29 October – 2 November
Meet the Speakers
These literary luminaries and brilliant minds join us this October!
View Full Programme
Discover our festival’s main programme. From searing rhetoric to masterly poetry, from the breathtakingly personal to the urgently political, this programme truly has it all.
Special Events
Get cosy at one of our literary lunches with a tasty feast and comfy conversations with friends, fiery writers, and blazing talent, or spend your evenings with intimate gatherings, compelling insight, and some laughs with your favourite authors during our Special Events.
Festival
All Events
Special Events
30 October 2025 | 18:00 - 19:30
Short Stories, Long Nights
COMO Uma Ubud
Miles Merrill presents a luxurious night of wine-pairing, artisan cheese and poetry at Kemiri, COMO Uma Ubud’s frangipani-fringed restaurant. Short Stories, our featured wine, is fresh from the Barossa Valley and newly crafted by the legendary...
Special Events
01 November 2025 | 12:00 - 14:00
Dim Sum Diaries
Casa Luna
Join us downstairs in Casa Luna’s jungle-view dining room, for a one-of-a-kind Dim Sum feast from Bali’s own, Panda Kitchen. Amid the charm of trolleys, steaming bamboo baskets, dumplings, noodles and bao, Ning Ken and Zhou Bo will serve up...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 15:30 - 17:00
The Art of Tea
Dragon Tea Temple
Step into the Dragon Tea Temple for an afternoon steeped in tradition, sipping organic tea and savouring small bites. This isn’t just about refreshment; it’s a cherished ritual. Antoinette Lattouf champions human rights and independent media,...
Special Events
30 October 2025 | 11:00 - 13:00
Stories That Matter
Begawan Biji Restaurant
Meet Craig Leeson, an award-winning filmmaker, environmental activist, and journalist with a mission. He is the director of A Plastic Ocean, a documentary that pulls back the curtain on plastic pollution and its devastation of marine...
Special Events
01 November 2025 | 11:00 - 13:00
Brunch with Pico Iyer
DI SINI DI SANA by Rachman & Sons
Join Pico Iyer, world-renowned speaker and author, for an exclusive and intimate dinner made up of delectable bites and intimate conversation. The Di Sini Di Sana dining room is a stunning and metaphorically astute reflection of Iyer’s deep...
Special Events
30 October 2025 | 18:30 - 20:00
Music and the Spoken Word: Dana Dajani, Annabel Laura and Bottlesmoker
Soulshine Bali
Make the most of your evening with music and spoken word poetry overlooking breathtaking views of Ubud’s lush jungle and rice fields at the scenic Soulshine. Spoken word performer Dana Dajani’s powerful voice and Annabel’s songs and music combine...
Special Events
29 October 2025 | 18:00 - 22:00
Festival Opening Gala and Dinner
Puri Agung Ubud
Join our magical beginning to the region's most fearless Festival. On the grounds of the Ubud Royal Palace, our Festival Opening Gala pulses with life, a night of spectacle showcasing everything the Festival does best: bold ideas and...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 16:00 - 20:00
Discover the Magic of Fireflies Village with Bella Li
Rumah Konservasi Kunang-Kunang
Step into a realm of enchantment with Wayan Wardika as your guide on a captivating Fireflies Tour through Taro Village in Ubud, where twilight unveils the serene beauty of lush rice paddies and the shimmering dance of fireflies. Wayan, a local...
Special Events
30 October 2025 | 16:00 - 20:00
Discover the Magic of Fireflies Village with Agustinus Wibowo
Rumah Konservasi Kunang-Kunang
Step into a realm of enchantment with Wayan Wardika as your guide on a captivating Fireflies Tour through Taro Village in Ubud, where twilight unveils the serene beauty of lush rice paddies and the shimmering dance of fireflies. Wayan, a local...
Special Events
01 November 2025 | 18:00 - 20:00
MTN Market: Banu Mushtaq and Jenny Erpenbeck in Conversation
Casa Luna
Banu Mushtaq, an Indian writer, women’s rights activist, lawyer, and winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize for Heart Lamp, joins Jenny Erpenbeck, an acclaimed German author and winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize for her...
Special Events
02 November 2025 | 15:00 - 17:00
Forest Therapy
Jingga Restaurant at Bumi Kinar
The forest is a treasure trove of benefits waiting to be uncovered. Nina Karnikowski, who tackles social and environmental challenges, pairs up with Brigid Delaney, whose no-nonsense approach to wellness cuts through the noise. They’re joined by...
Special Events
01 November 2025 | 10:00 - 11:30
5Rhythms Dance Meditation with Gina Chick
Soulshine Bali
5Rhythms dance meditation is a conscious movement practice that offers a map for our deep wisdom to surface by following the innate intelligence of the body. Within each of us lies a guiding principle, a wild instinctive voice that knows who we...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 18:00 - 19:00
Masks of Bali: Between Heaven and Hell
Indus Restaurant
Join a journey into the origins, history and living legacy of Balinese mask dance, an ancient performance art spanning over a thousand years. Masks of Bali, authored by acclaimed mask dancer and scholar Prof. I Made Bandem and Indonesian...
Special Events
01 November 2025 | 17:30 - 19:00
In the Eye of Oppression: Media, Taliban and Afghan Women
Amandari
Saad Mohseni takes us deep into Afghanistan, where the oppressive shadow of Taliban rule looms large over the lives of women and youth. As a media heavyweight and Co-founder of Moby News, Mohseni offers a front-row seat to the relentless struggle...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 16:30 - 19:30
History Duet: Cosmos and Kingdom
Honeymoon Garden
Step into a history lesson like no other at Honeymoon Garden. Under the watchful gaze of Shiva and Ganesha, you'll gather for an afternoon that promises to inspire. Over the course of three hours, led by some of the world’s finest historians and...
Special Events
30 October 2025 | 16:00 - 17:30
Porter 02: Living Dangerously
Indus Restaurant
Porter is a magazine by Peron House that gathers off-the-beaten-path narratives for discerning travellers, creatives, and makers. No. 01 — Coming of Age collects stories of personal journeys and growth...
Special Events
02 November 2025 | 10:00 - 11:30
The Maestro: Antonio Blanco
The Blanco Renaissance Museum
More than just a painter, Antonio Blanco was an eccentric force who dove passionately into the enchanting chaos of Ubud. He painted layers of beauty—each brushstroke a love letter to Bali’s cultural richness and the beautiful women who inspired...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 19:00 - 21:30
What Do We Do Now
Uma Cucina
Enter the elegant environs of Uma Cucina, into a gathering of some of the Festivals most impressive writers. Banu Mushtaq, Deepa Bhasti, Thomas Mayo, Dana Dajani, Iyas Lawrence, and Juli Sastrawan will lay their truths bare with Steph Harmon -...
Special Events
30 October 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
Pitch to Penguin
Di Sini Di Sana by Rachman & Sons
Do you have a manuscript or book idea you’re itching to get out there? Join leading publishers Penguin Random House and share your ten-minute pitch for instant feedback on your idea, with the opportunity to secure your dream book deal. Whether you...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 18:15 - 20:15
The 100th Printing of Laut Bercerita
Alang-Alang Stage
Join us for a special celebration of one of Indonesia’s most influential literary works. Leila S. Chudori’s Laut Bercerita, published in 2017, which recounts the abduction of activists in 1998 and the families’ search for their loved...
Special Events
30 October 2025 | 06:00 - 08:00
Birdwatching Tour with Darryl Jones on Thursday
Meeting point in front of ApotekKU Campuhan Ubud
Join Darryl Jones in an early morning bird-walking tour across the Tjampuhan Ridge, Ubud’s most breathtaking iconic walk. The trail starts at the confluence of the Wos Rivers next to Ubud’s ancient temple, Pura Gunung Lebah. Witness more than...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 06:00 - 08:00
Birdwatching Tour with Darryl Jones on Friday
Meeting point in front of ApotekKU Campuhan Ubud
Join Darryl Jones in an early morning bird-walking tour across the Tjampuhan Ridge, Ubud’s most breathtaking iconic walk. The trail starts at the confluence of the Wos Rivers next to Ubud’s ancient temple, Pura Gunung Lebah. Witness more than...
Special Events
01 November 2025 | 06:00 - 08:00
Birdwatching Tour with Darryl Jones on Saturday
Meeting point in front of ApotekKU Campuhan Ubud
Join Darryl Jones in an early morning bird-walking tour across the Tjampuhan Ridge, Ubud’s most breathtaking iconic walk. The trail starts at the confluence of the Wos Rivers next to Ubud’s ancient temple, Pura Gunung Lebah. Witness more than...
Special Events
30 October 2025 | 17:30 - 19:00
The Recurrent Mystical
Plataran Ubud Hotel & Spa
William Dalrymple, historian of legends, myths, and magic; Titah Aw, writer of ghosts and local wisdom; Ingrid Rojas Contreras, an author of the otherworldly. Our speakers are modern magicians who unearth the supernatural in the everyday. Under a...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 18:00 - 19:30
Navigating the World
COMO Uma Ubud
At the crossroads of culture and exploration, where off-the-beaten-path adventures meet the ideals of sustainable travel, our writers dive deep into the depths of identity, belonging, memory and nostalgia. As twilight descends over the picturesque...
Special Events
31 October 2025 | 12:30 - 14:30
Heirlooms: Literary Long Table Lunch
Herb Library Ubud
Join us at the charming open-air Herb Library for a long-table lunch that marries inventive, health-conscious cuisine with a deep dive into Heirlooms – What We Inherit. It's where we wrestle with the clash between material value and...
Masterclasses
And join our Masterclasses led by international headliners and beloved local talent in the worlds of literature, poetry, and music. Book your spots before they sell out.
Festival
All Events
Masterclasses
01 November 2025 | 14:00 - 16:00
The Bestseller Blueprint: Author Marketing Essentials
Samsara Ubud
What does it really take to turn a book into a bestseller? In this practical and insightful masterclass, Chaitanya Srivastava, Senior Publicist at Penguin Random House Southeast Asia, Culture Writer, and book influencer, pulls back the...
Masterclasses
01 November 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
An Introduction to Screenwriting with Ratih Kumala
Di Sini Di Sana by Rachman & Sons
In this special masterclass, Indonesian literary superstar Ratih Kumala will offer an essential introduction for writers looking to explore the world of screenwriting. Kumala brings a wealth of experience in television and film writing, following...
Masterclasses
31 October 2025 | 14:00 - 16:00
Print, Protest, Punk: A Masterclass with Gilang Propagila
The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali
Join environmental campaigner and Founder of DIS PRINT KULTUR, Gilang Propagila, for a masterclass that explores the intersection of art, activism, and hardcore punk. Drawing on his work with grassroots movements like Bali Tolak Reklamasi and his...
Masterclasses
31 October 2025 | 14:00 - 15:00
Master Your Podcast with Makna Talks
Alila Ubud
Master your hosting and podcasting skills in this practical session, led by Iyas Lawrence, Founder and host of Makna Talks. Learn to ask sharper questions, engage your guests, and tell compelling stories while discovering how to connect...
Masterclasses
30 October 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
Rediscovering the Joy of Conscious Reading through Lectio Divina
Plataran Ubud Hotel & Spa
Across the globe, people are reading less for pleasure. The rise of digital media and the constant pull of social platforms have shifted habits, leaving many disengaged from deep, attentive reading. Once a refuge and a source of joy, reading is...
Masterclasses
01 November 2025 | 15:30 - 16:30
Sound Bath with Bottlesmoker and Manuela Sauter
Soulshine Bali
Step into a one-of-a-kind BioSonic Soundbath where the natural vibrations of plants harmonise with the rich tones of traditional sound healing instruments, singing bowls, crystal bowls, and more. Presented by Bottlesmoker and Manuela Sauter, this...
Masterclasses
02 November 2025 | 14:00 - 16:30
Scent and The Written Word
Powder Room by R4D
Many writers become entranced by the immersive experience it is to unlock a memory through scent. A powerful sensory tool, scents can trigger details of a memory, location, food, or person that often remain elusive to photographs or souvenirs. In...
Masterclasses
30 October 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
Nature and Travel Writing with Nina Karnikowski
MetlandVenya Ubud
Has the natural divine often felt out of reach to articulate? Join Nina Karnikowski in this unique masterclass as she focusses on the connection between oneself and the natural world. Nina's travel writing aims to encourage responsible travel to...
Masterclasses
01 November 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
Reclaiming Our Stories: A Writing Workshop on Desire
The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud
This intimate writing workshop creates a safe, supportive space for women to explore the complex landscape of sexuality, sensuality, and desire through creative expression. Whether you're navigating changing relationships, rediscovering your body...
Masterclasses
31 October 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
The Poetics of Border Ethnography
Adiwana Suweta
Accurate and nuanced representations of migrant and refugee experiences are our greatest force in the face of prejudice. Petra Molnar has travelled across borders, documenting migrant and refugee stories. In this Masterclass, she explores with...
Masterclasses
30 October 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
Learning from Emerging Voices
Leona Suweta by Nakula
Join an intimate session with the Festival’s 2022 Emerging Writer, AIR Literature Västra Götaland resident, and Chevening Scholar at the University of Edinburgh, Awi Chin, alongside ten fellow Emerging Writers from the Festival’s 2025 cohort....
Masterclasses
31 October 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
The Power of Storytelling in Personal Branding
SenS Hotel & Spa + Conference Ubud Town Centre
Led by Indonesian science journalist Harry Surjadi, this masterclass will show you how storytelling can be a powerful tool to express who you are, build trust and create meaningful connections. By shaping and sharing your story, you will gain the...
Masterclasses
01 November 2025 | 15:00 - 16:30
Practising Ethnography in Indonesia
SereS Springs Resort & Spa Singakerta, Ubud
Join this interactive masterclass to explore how traditional ethnographic training in Indonesia has often excluded those without cultural or financial privilege, with gender norms and social rules deciding who is considered a 'serious'...
Cultural Workshops
Led by Ubud’s most revered guides and local artists, this program showcases the richness of Balinese heritage and the town’s flourishing creative scene.
Festival
All Events
Cultural Workshops
30 October 2025 | 06:00 - 09:00
Culinary Jalan-Jalan
Casa Luna
Ubud wakes early. Before tourists flood the streets, the real Bali hums to life in smoky warungs, in backstreets, in the hands of those who have spent decades perfecting their craft. This walking tour is about legacy, not reinvention. It starts...
Cultural Workshops
02 November 2025 | 10:00 - 12:00
Brushes of Tradition: Tantri Sketch-Painting
Puri Kantor Legacy
Discover Tantri Sketch-Painting, a traditional sketching and painting style from Keliki, a village north of Ubud. In this two-hour session, you will explore the intricate art form while immersed in the inspiring setting of Puri Kantor. Nestled in...
Cultural Workshops
02 November 2025 | 08:00 - 09:30
Ubud Royal Legacy Walking Tour
Plaza Tjok Gde Agung Sukawati, Ubud Art Market
In the shadow of colonial expansion across the Pacific, Tjokorda Gde Agung and Tjokorda Gde Raka Sukawati opened Ubud's palace doors to Western artists and intellectuals throughout the 1920s and 30s. From their small village in Bali's foothills,...
Cultural Workshops
01 November 2025 | 14:30 - 16:00
Introduction to Balinese Dance with Kerta Art
Kerta Art Perfomance Club
This introductory workshop, led by master Ubudian dancer Kerta Art, introduces participants to the foundations of Balinese dance. Focusing on posture, gesture, and rhythm, the session explores how body awareness shapes movement and expression....
Cultural Workshops
31 October 2025 | 11:00 - 13:00
Hands-On Tempe Culinary Experience
Tempego Experience Ubud
Discover Indonesia’s beloved culinary heritage with TempeMan, where tradition meets creativity and innovation. This immersive experience begins with a taste of nasi sambel tumpang served alongside unique tempe creations, followed by a guided tour...
Cultural Workshops
02 November 2025 | 10:00 - 11:30
Shadow Theatre: Journey to the Mother Tree
Yellow Coco Nest
Do you know which tree in your neighbourhood is the Mother Tree? It is the tallest and oldest, witnessing changes over many years and communicating through its roots and soil with other living beings nearby. In this session, Susan Allen shares the...
Cultural Workshops
01 November 2025 | 09:30 - 12:00
Culinary Jalan-Jalan to Sukawati’s Hidden Gem
Sukawati Regency
Discover the heart of Bali through Sukawati, a village where food is woven into daily life rather than performance. Begin in the bustling market, alive with color and spice, before tasting kerupuk tahu and learning the craft of tofu-making, a...
Cultural Workshops
02 November 2025 | 10:00 - 15:00
Roots, Leaves, Fire: A Feast from the Forest
Warung D’Teba
Join Chef Krisna of Warung DiTeba for a journey into the wild abundance of Sayan, where food, fire, and story come together on the river’s edge. As you walk the land, you will learn how generations of Balinese have foraged leaves, roots, and...
Cultural Workshops
01 November 2025 | 15:00 - 18:00
Brush with Myth: Exploring the Barong through Painting
Bumi Kinar Ubud
Discover the rich symbolism of the Barong, a guardian figure in Balinese mythology, through a hands-on painting workshop with talented creative artist Bagus Ari Maruta. Bagus, a third-generation painter from a family of artists rooted in Bali’s...
Cultural Workshops
02 November 2025 | 11:00 - 13:00
The Language of Balinese Offerings
Nirvana Pension
With intricately woven leaves and a charming assortment of petals, you’ve likely admired the Balinese Hindu offerings adorning homes, streets, and temples. Now, uncover the reasons behind these rituals and explore the unique opportunity to delve...
Cultural Workshops
31 October 2025 | 14:30 - 16:00
Exploring Indigo Tie Dye with Threads of Life
Threads of Life Natural Dye Studio
Join a hands-on workshop in the art of natural indigo dyeing. Begin with an introduction to Threads of Life and its natural dye studio, followed by a walk through the dye plant garden to learn about Indonesia’s traditional dyes. With step-by-step...
Cultural Workshops
31 October 2025 | 08:00 - 09:00
Bahasa Indonesia Breakfast
Dharma Kula Ubud
Start your Festival day with an enriching breakfast as the Cinta Bahasa team introduces you to the basics of Bahasa Indonesia. Explore essential greetings, cultural etiquette, and useful Indonesian phrases to enhance your Ubud experience. Join us...
Cultural Workshops
01 November 2025 | 08:00 - 09:00
Bahasa Bali Breakfast
Dharma Kula Ubud
Kick off your festival day with a tasty Breakfast & Learn session, led by one of Cinta Bahasa’s top teachers! Enjoy a delicious breakfast while picking up essential Balinese phrases and cultural insights from an expert who makes...
Free Events
You can enhance your Festival experience at no cost with dozens of free events, including our Book Launches, Festival Club sessions, art exhibitions, and Night Music performances.
Festival
All Events
After Dark Performances
30 October 2025 | 18:30 - 20:00
Empire: Rooting for the Antihero on Thursday
Honeymoon Garden
Empire reimagines the journey of an all-boys Austrian football team on their naively hedonistic adventure through the Dutch East Indies in 1934. For these young travellers, the Indies appeared as an illusive playground with lush parties,...
After Dark Performances
01 November 2025 | 19:00 - 20:30
The Wayang Women: Wewe Gombel
Honeymoon Garden
The Wayang Women is a multinational all-female troupe reimagining the traditional Kelantanese art of Wayang Kulit, which was once performed almost exclusively by men. The performance brings female ghost figures from Southeast Asian folk tales to...
Film Program
01 November 2025 | 18:15 - 19:45
The Last Glaciers
Alang-Alang Stage
The Last Glaciers tells the story of climate change through the visual impact of one of the planet’s most important and yet critically threatened resources – glaciers. A trip to the Alps in 2017 shocked award-winning filmmaker Craig...
Festival Club
31 October 2025 | 19:15 - 20:15
Yang Memberi Kita Nama
Indus Restaurant
The work of Singaporean poet Alvin Pang, translated by Aan Mansyur, invites us to explore identity and the powerful role of names in shaping who we are. Through lyrical and reflective poetry, this collection uncovers layers of memory, longing, and...
Festival Club
01 November 2025 | 17:15 - 18:15
Understanding Jokowi
Bar Luna at Casa Luna
What kind of legacy does Joko Widodo leave after a decade in power, and how will it shape Indonesia’s future? In this conversation, cultural critic and long-time observer Jean Couteau unpacks Jokowi’s ambitious drive for industrialisation,...
Festival Club
30 October 2025 | 17:45 - 18:45
The President of the State of East Indonesia
Rumah Kayu
This session features a reading and discussion of two books on Tjokorda Gde Rake Sukawati, the Ubud nobleman and former President of the State of East Indonesia (NIT), celebrated as a cultural diplomat of Bali. Participants will explore his...
Festival Club
31 October 2025 | 19:00 - 20:00
Bringing Indonesia’s Stories to the World
Rumah Kayu
How can Indonesian literature reach a wider global audience? The answer lies not only in sending books overseas, but in building an ecosystem — festivals, digital platforms, curators, critics, and networks that give national storytellers a stage....
After Dark Performances
31 October 2025 | 20:00 - 21:30
Empire: Rooting for the Antihero on Friday
Honeymoon Garden
Empire reimagines the journey of an all-boys Austrian football team on their naively hedonistic adventure through the Dutch East Indies in 1934. For these young travellers, the Indies appeared as an illusive playground with lush parties,...
Film Program
01 November 2025 | 17:00 - 18:00
Return of the Fireflies
Paradiso Ubud
In the heart of bustling Bali, Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde and a team of local Balinese have spent three years tending a dream: a Firefly Garden where light returns to the night. This intimate love story between people and nature captures...
Climate Day
02 November 2025 | 17:15 - 18:15
Echoes for the Earth: Voices of Changemakers
Bumi Kinar Ubud
This event spotlights a powerful collection of short talks by community change-makers. From community healers to climate innovators, these change-makers share their personal stories and the actions they have seen as a result. These expert speakers...
Festival Club
31 October 2025 | 16:00 - 17:00
To Love The Pen: Our Literary Journeys
Bar Luna at Casa Luna
Writers become writers through different paths: book deals, academia, self-publishing. Yet they often find and delight in prose and poetry for the same reasons. Authors know, despite it all, there is universality in the love of narrative—a...
Festival Club
02 November 2025 | 17:30 - 18:30
Omar Musa: Fierceland
Bar Luna at Casa Luna
Join Bornean-Australian artist, rapper, poet, and author Omar Musa as he shares his newly released and long-awaited second novel. Fierceland is a post-capitalist family saga set against Malaysian Borneo’s deforestation. The ghosts of...
Festival Club
31 October 2025 | 17:15 - 18:15
Mark Heyward: The Quality of Light
Bar Luna at Casa Luna
Mark Heyward has called Indonesia home for over 30 years. Born in 1957 in small-town Tasmania, Australia, his travels and accredited expertise have informed multiple novels, travel guides, and the only licensed SPK International School in Lombok....
Festival Club
01 November 2025 | 16:00 - 17:00
Kate Sawyer: Family Literature
Bar Luna at Casa Luna
Constructing sizzling family dynamics in fiction is a difficult task, but often with a dazzling pay-off. How can authors protect the identity of those who inspire their craft? Can they maintain motivation to write into what they know best? How do...
Book Launches
02 November 2025 | 17:45 - 18:45
Climate Action 101 by Wisma Habibie
Indus Restaurant
Climate Action 101: Indonesia’s Guide for Newbies is more than an introduction to climate change, it’s a call to action. Aiming to democratise climate education, this guide empowers Indonesia’s youth to engage with a crisis already...
Festival Club
30 October 2025 | 10:00 - 11:30
Mengenalkan Ekologi dan Kekayaan Lokal pada Anak-Anak lewat seri Mata
Taman Dedari
Okky Madasari’s Mata series takes readers on thrilling journeys across Indonesia through the eyes of Matara, a curious and brave young girl. These adventure stories spark imagination and open windows into the country’s diverse landscapes...
Festival Club
01 November 2025 | 19:15 - 20:15
Paya Nie: Women’s Lives in the Midst of Conflict
Indus Restaurant
What becomes of women when armed conflict erupts? Paya Nie, winner of 3rd Prize at the 2023 Jakarta Arts Council Novel Competition, tells of four Acehnese women: Ubiet, Mawa Aisyah, Cuda Aminah and Kak Limah. They search for binyeut, the...
After Dark Performances
29 October 2025 | 20:00 - 20:30
Maliang Liang
Plaza Tjok Gde Agung Sukawati
This performance invites you to experience the pure joy evoked by Maliang Liang, where children at play are so absorbed they lose all sense of time. In today’s world, it becomes a reflection of how we, too, are swept away by pleasure, progress,...
Film Program
01 November 2025 | 16:00 - 17:00
Ngambe' Teladan
Paradiso Ubud
Join us for a documentary film exploring the ancestral heritage that thrives in the daily life of the Iban Indigenous community in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. Inspired by nature, plants, animals, and ancestral spirits, this heritage...
Film Program
02 November 2025 | 15:00 - 17:30
ROOTS
Paradiso Ubud
Ninety-eight years after the free-spirited, highly talented painter and musician Walter Spies first visited Bali, his spirit returns to the island. But with Spies came tourism and modernity. Michael Schindhelm’s poetic docu-fiction tells a...
Film Program
30 October 2025 | 19:00 - 21:00
Samsara
Alang-Alang Stage
Join us for the film screening of Samsara, set in Bali in 1932, where Darta (Ario Bayu), a poor man rejected by his beloved’s wealthy parents, makes a fateful pact with the Monkey King (Gus Bang Sada). Rooted in Indonesian mysticism, this...
Festival Club
30 October 2025 | 18:45 - 19:45
If Objects Could Speak: Storytelling with SAKA Museum
Indus Restaurant
At SAKA Museum, artefacts and artworks are not silent witnesses but catalysts for reflection and storytelling. This session guides participants to view objects as creative prompts, linking heritage with imagination and history with new narratives....
Film Program
31 October 2025 | 16:00 - 18:00
Gayatri: The Majapahit Trilogy (Episode 1)
Step into the grandeur of Majapahit with GAYATRI, the first in a three-part historical opera by Indonesian artist mhyajo, inspired by Mpu Prapanca’s Nagarakretagama, recognised by UNESCO as a Memory of the World. The film follows Princess...
Film Program
31 October 2025 | 20:30 - 22:30
The Last Accord: War, Apocalypse, and Peace in Aceh
Alang-Alang Stage
This documentary film traces one of Southeast Asia’s longest conflicts and the remarkable peace that followed. For nearly three decades, the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were locked in violent struggle until the 2005...
Film Program
01 November 2025 | 20:00 - 21:00
Wiku Tapini
Alang-Alang Stage
Step into the world of the Wiku Tapini, women entrusted with one of Bali’s most sacred and demanding roles. This documentary unveils the lives of those devoted to preparing banten, the intricate offerings central to grand ceremonies such...
Film Program
30 October 2025 | 21:15 - 22:30
Koesno: Jati Diri Soekarno
Alang-Alang Stage
Nominated for Best Short Documentary at the 2022 Indonesian Film Festival (FFI), Koesno: Jati Diri Soekarno is a docudrama that revisits the youth of Soekarno, the first President of Indonesia and a central figure in the country’s...
Film Program
01 November 2025 | 21:00 - 22:00
One More Cup of Coffee for Ambe'
Alang-Alang Stage
The Torajan people of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, are deeply rooted in a culture where death is not an end but an extension of life. This ethnographic film explores approaches to death among adherents of the Aluk to Dolo belief system who have...
After Dark Performances
01 November 2025 | 19:30 - 22:30
2025 Festival Poetry Slam
Valley Stage
The annual Poetry Slam is one of the festival’s most sizzling events. From global poets to local sensations, who will captivate the crowd? In this event, we unite writers from around the world to slam, spin, and interweave their original words in...
After Dark Performances
02 November 2025 | 18:30 - 19:00
Aguru Waktra: Reimagining Lontar Budha Kecapi
The Blanco Renaissance Museum
Aguru Waktra is a movement-based theatre work inspired by the Lontar Budha Kecapi. It reimagines the story of Kalimosada and Kalimosadi, devoted disciples of Budha Kecapi, a hermit and healer. Through their journey, the performance...
After Dark Performances
30 October 2025 | 20:00 - 22:00
Women Poetry Slam
Indus Restaurant
Our Women’s Poetry Slam returns with the theme Where Are Women in the Universe? in response to this year’s Festival theme, I Am the Universe. This powerful event invites poets to explore their own universe and relationship to...
After Dark Performances
02 November 2025 | 17:30 - 18:00
Brides Should Not Sew Their Own Wedding Dresses
Festival Hub at Taman Baca
Join a visual-performative work by Indonesian artist Agnes Christina, unfolding across seven sheets of translucent drafting paper painted with poster colour, each paired with poetic text. The steps of dressmaking, including measuring, cutting,...
Festival Club
30 October 2025 | 19:00 - 20:00
Remembering Cok Sawitri
Rumah Kayu
Cokorda Sawitri, affectionately known as Cok Sawitri, was an Balinese artist who channelled her activism through both writing and performance. This session celebrates her life and legacy, as friends, colleagues, relatives, and loved ones honour...
After Dark Performances
30 October 2025 | 10:00 - 19:00
Puisi on the Spot
Festival Hub at Taman Baca
Every story has a truth that poetry can reveal. At Puisi on the Spot, we listen, and in real time transform your words into a poem, one you can hold, take home, and keep as yours alone. It’s poetry created in the moment: personal, immediate, and...
Climate Day
02 November 2025 | 16:00 - 17:00
Reclaiming Architecture as Sacred Code
Bumi Kinar Ubud
Join us for a journey of revival and reinterpretation of cosmology in architectural practices. In places such as Bali, where ancient codes often clash with technology, sacred land knowledge is frequently diluted in modern projects. Join moderator...
Climate Day
02 November 2025 | 14:45 - 15:45
Nothing is Waste
Bumi Kinar Ubud
There is a crisis in waste management in Bali. It is affecting every avenue of human, natural, and economic progress. Subsequent pollution from poor waste management is constantly impacting food chain functions and human health, and emphasises an...
Climate Day
02 November 2025 | 13:30 - 14:30
Regenerative Action from the Ground Up
Bumi Kinar Ubud
Community-based management is a concept aiming to encourage community agency, support local economies, alleviate poverty, and grow sustainably. This session explores how local landowners like Wayan are working to rebuild the landscapes of their...
Climate Day
02 November 2025 | 12:15 - 13:15
Land of Plenty: Holidays, Industries and Floods
Bumi Kinar Ubud
Modern societal shifts in land use from agricultural industries to secondary industries have led to substantial land degradation, reduced water retention, and habitat loss through deforestation, urbanisation, and industrial expansion. This has...
Climate Day
02 November 2025 | 11:00 - 12:00
Water Rituals
Bumi Kinar Ubud
Water is both a resource and a remedy for all living beings, and for centuries human beings have served as its guardians. From the age-old practice of praying to the sacred lake of Batur, to modern techniques of conservation and preservation, we...
Climate Day
02 November 2025 | 10:15 - 10:45
Climate Day Keynote: Craig Leeson
Bumi Kinar Ubud
Join us for a fascinating conversation with Craig Leeson: Australian award-winning filmmaker, environmental activist, television presenter, public speaker, and journalist, with a mission. His environmental documentaries A Plastic Ocean...
Art Exhibition
16 September 2025 | 08:00 - 18:00
Kamasan Visual Study Project #1: Gerak Garis Kamasan
Purga Artspace
The Racuns and Gurat Art Project present a space of exploration where the line in Kamasan painting becomes a source of inspiration for contemporary visual art. This exploration arises from the awareness that tradition is not stagnant, but alive,...
Join a Journey
into the Soul
of Borobudur
Join us for an exciting journey through Borobudur’s history, Indonesia’s path to independence, the stories of women carved into stone, and the legacy of the Majapahit empire with William Dalrymple, David Van Reybrouck, and more.
24-28 October 2025
Start your Journey
This is a rare kind of celebration, not of the past alone, but of connection. To something older. Deeper. Wiser. And far more real than anything your phone screen could ever show you.
Janet DeNeefe, Festival Founder and Director
Join Festival
Writing Retreat
Opening the festival journey is a three-day literary programme featuring writing sessions from three internationally renowned novelists: Kate Sawyer, Mirandi Riwoe, and Robin Hemley.
28-29 October 2025
Book your Spot
Mirandi Riwoe
Kate Sawyer
Robin Hemley
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