The Bali Arts Festival (BAF) 2010 will last a month beginning from June 12 until July 10. Nine foreign art troupes coming from seven countries (Japan, America, Canada, India, Korea, Sweden, and Belgium) are likely to appear at the annual arts event. In addition to art performances, those foreign art troupes will also participate in the parade and the opening parade of the festival.

In addition to foreign art troupes, there will be 20 art troupes from outside Bali such as from Lingga Regency - Riau Islands, Malang, East Java, West Kalimantan, Gorontalo, Tanjung Pinang - Riau Islands, West Jakarta, Central Java, West Sulawesi, Maluku, Tangerang, Bekasi, Banten, Central Lombok, Balikpapan and Yogyakarta. Besides, this year's BAF also features 72 types of culinary festivals and a variety of art crafts.

Chairman of the BAF Organizing Committee, Ida Bagus Sedhawa, accompanied by the Head of Bali Government Tourism Office, lB Subhiksu, and Vice Chairman I of Bali Cultural Advisory Council (Listibiya), Rai Handayana, in the presence of print and electronic journalists in the Office of Bali Cultural Services, last Monday (June 1), said the festival would display 334 types of activity, increasing if compared to the event of last year only amounting to 240 events. They consisted of 166 performances, 99 parades, and 72 competitions.

The 32 BAF will be officially opened by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Saturday (Jun 12) at around 8:00 pm Local Time at Bali Art Center, Denpasar. Opening procession of the BAF would be graced by the presentation of a colossal ballet performance entitled Anggada Envoy of Bali Provincial troupe under the direction of the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) Denpasar.

BAF of this year has a central theme namely Sudamala: Comprehending Purity of Conscience. Meanwhile, the parade of BAF takes the theme Bhuana Kerthi: Sanctification of Universe, theme of performance - Stuti Mana Wibawa: Sincere Presentation, theme of competition - Paras Paros Upasraya: Vying for togetherness, theme of seminar- Dharmatula Subhaprawerti: Considering a wise measure, and theme of exhibition - Silvahita Karana: Skills as source of blessing. "The theme of BAF's parade namely universe purification is very closely associated with the program of provincial government known as Bali clean and green," he said.

The image of BAF as a trade fair will be minimized by disciplining the hawkers in the area of the Art Center. If in the BAF of the previous year, hawkers were allowed to sell in the area of the Art Center, this year they will not be allowed again to earn a livelihood there. Meanwhile, the budget allocated for this BAF reaches about IDR 5 billion, an increase from the previous year amounting to IDR 4.5 billion.