This annual festival, based at Taman Wedhi Budaya arts centre, is an easy way to see a wide variety of traditional dance, music and crafts. The productions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata ballets are grand and the opening ceremony and parade in Denpasar are spectacles. Tickets are usually available before performances; schedules are online and at the Denpasar tourist office.
The festival is the main event of the year for scores of village dance and musical groups. Competition is fierce, with local pride on the line at each performance ('our Kecak is better than your Kecak', etc). To do well here sets a village on a good course for the year. Some events are held in a 6000-seat amphitheatre, a venue that allows you to realise the mass appeal of traditional Balinese culture.
