Balinese New Year - Nyepi
Balinese New Year - Nyepi, which is also called “The Day of Silence”, is on Thursday, 07 March 2019.
This date changes every year according to the lunar calendar.
On this day, Bali becomes the only place in the world to completely close for a religious/cultural reason.
All residents are required to remain inside their homes. Tourists are to likewise instructed to remain at their hotels and are forbidden to leave the properties.
Hotels and resorts all run limited facilities and services for their guests.
The lead-up to this fascinating and relaxing day is Nyepi Eve where giant papier mache monsters up to 3 metres tall are paraded through the streets to scare away the evil spirits for another year. The priests will challenge the evil spirits with the notion that there is no point in staying as if they look on Nyepi they will see there is no one in Bali.
Everyone can join in the parades. As all roads are blocked, walking is the only real option. Take a torch along and just make sure to come back home or to your hotel before midnight.
There will be service interruptions during this period.
The airport will be officially closed on 07 March 2019.
All internet services are blocked during this time so we will unfortunately unable to reply directly to any email during this period.
So if you are planning Bali, you either avoid being there on this date or you partake in the day of silence.
**words credit to Trails of Indochina**