UBUD, Bali — Greater than 250 performers from 5 nations are gathering in Ubud this weekend for the Nusantara Worldwide Folklore Pageant (NIFF) 2026, bringing conventional dance, music and cultural performances from Indonesia and overseas to Bali.
The 2-day competition, held at Museum Puri Lukisan on Sept. 26–27, options performers from Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Poland and Thailand underneath the theme “World Rhythms, Shared Tales.”
One of many opening-day highlights was a Kapa Haka efficiency by New Zealand’s Wairea Performing Arts, showcasing M?ori dance, motion and conventional songs.
Gilly, a customer from South Africa, mentioned the performances supplied audiences in Ubud a possibility to expertise cultures from totally different elements of the world.
“I used to be amazed. Having a cultural efficiency in the course of a busy space permits us to find the cultures being offered. It’s sensible,” Gilly mentioned.
Poland’s Nadarzyn Orchestra additionally introduced a unique type of conventional efficiency to the competition, showing with an ensemble of percussion and wind devices.
NIFF Creative Director and Co-Founder Maria Darmaningsih mentioned the Polish group demonstrated how folklore can take totally different kinds throughout nations.
“In Poland, this sort of drum band is definitely a part of people tradition,” Maria mentioned. “They arrive to NIFF not solely to carry out, but in addition to convey messages by percussion and wind devices.”
Indonesian members come from Bali, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Indramayu, Dharmasraya, Palangka Raya and Dompu, presenting traditions from totally different elements of the archipelago.
Pageant Director and Co-Founder Sita Tyasutami mentioned curiosity on this 12 months’s occasion had grown considerably, with organizers receiving quite a few inquiries from potential performers, volunteers and workshop members.
“The variety of members is larger than final 12 months, and so they come from a wider vary of nations,” Sita mentioned.
Individuals are chosen by a curatorial course of requiring movies, images, biographies and details about their creative teams.
NIFF curator Jasmine Okubo mentioned folklore shouldn’t be considered merely as a convention preserved unchanged from the previous.
“Folklore is a part of tradition that continues to develop together with the individuals who observe it,” she mentioned.
NIFF traces its roots to the Jakarta Worldwide Folklore Pageant, first held in 2019 earlier than being interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition was later revived in Ubud underneath the NIFF identify, with its first Bali version held in 2025.
Sunday’s program contains Reog Ponorogo, performances by Thailand’s Sirisook Dance Theatre and Japan’s Kimiko Wakayagi, M?ori performances by Wairea Performing Arts and music from Poland’s Nadarzyn Orchestra.
The competition is scheduled to conclude Sunday with a Kecak collaboration that includes Balinese artist and scholar I Wayan Dibia and a closing efficiency by KunoKini.
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