Bali is waking up through Festival of Peace and Unity

DENPASAR (indo.com): In response to travel advice issued by many countries since the bombings in Legian, Bali, several parties are planning to hold a Festival of Peace and Unity in Ubud on 9-10 November 2002 to show the island's re-awakening.

The objective of the festival are to help heal the emotional wounds and distress felt by the Balinese community by channeling that emotion into creating a festival. It will also show the world that the Balinese are a peace-loving community and live peacefully despite their many differences. In this way they will help to combat the "epidemic of fear", by getting out into the public arena and celebrating the diversity of Ubud and the island of Bali, and restore confidence in the island and its lifeblood - tourism.

Programs in the upcoming Festival of Peace and Unity will include:

" A procession of Art and Culture at 16.00 hours, 9 November 2002, commencing from Pura Dalem Puri, down the Main Street to the soccer field on Monkey Forest Road. Participants include the 8 kelurahan (subdistricts) who will make ogoh-ogoh (giant dolls), school children of the Ubud area and resident expats (who will also make an ogoh-ogoh), youth organizations, artists, community leaders, and many more. They will be accompanied by a marching angklung gamelan and gong suling.

" At 18.30, a group prayer will be held. As the Festival will be held during the month of Ramadan (the fasting month for the Muslims), the timing of the prayer will be in accordance with the evening prayer time for Muslims.

" People will pray according to their religion. Short speeches will be made by different sectors of the community and awards presented to the tireless volunteers who have worked so hard these past weeks.

" In the evening, an Evening of Art and Entertainment will be presented with poetry readings, music and dance performances. Prominent Indonesian artists (to be confirmed) will perform.

" A Night Market will be held at the soccer field. All the major restaurants and hotels are invited to donate food to the night market, and vouchers sold for a mere RP 5,000 (well under a US dollar) so that everyone can enjoy five-star food. Visitors are encouraged to purchase vouchers in bulk and give them away to children They will be available in the participating shops, hotels and restaurants from next week.

Both the Evening of Entertainment and the Night Market will take place on the evenings of both November 9 and 10.