Festivals in Indonesia: Nyepi, Waisak, Lebaran and when to time a trip

How the festival calendar works, and the 2027 dates

Indonesia sets its public holidays a year ahead in a joint decree of three ministers. The 2027 decree was signed on 15 September 2026; when we checked on 2026-10-03, Antara's report of it listed 18 national holidays and 8 collective leave days (cuti bersama). Collective leave applies to government staff; private employers decide for themselves, but many follow it, and that is what fills trains, flights and hotels.

The dates that matter most for travellers in 2027 are below. Nyepi and Idul Fitri fall in the same week, which is unusual and makes early March 2027 the most disruptive period of the year for travel in Bali and Java. Mid-May is the second crunch: Idul Adha, Waisak and two collective leave days create a run of six days off from Saturday 15 to Thursday 20 May for many workers.

• Chinese New Year (Imlek): Saturday 6 February 2027, with collective leave on Friday 5 February. Cap Go Meh follows 15 days later.
• Nyepi (Balinese Day of Silence): Monday 8 March 2027.
• Idul Fitri (Lebaran): Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 March 2027, with collective leave on 9, 12 and 15 March. With the weekends and Nyepi, that is up to ten days off, from Saturday 6 to Monday 15 March.
• Good Friday and Easter: 26 and 28 March 2027, with collective leave on 25 March.
• Idul Adha: Monday 17 May 2027, with collective leave on 18 May.
• Waisak (Vesak): Thursday 20 May 2027, with collective leave on 19 May.
• Maulid (the Prophet's birthday) and Independence Day: Sunday 15 and Tuesday 17 August 2027.
• Christmas: Saturday 25 December 2027, with collective leave on 24 December.

Nyepi in Bali: the parade night, then a day indoors

Nyepi is the Balinese Hindu New Year in the Saka calendar, and it is the one festival that changes every visitor's plans. The Ministry of Tourism explains that it falls on the first day of the tenth month, sasih kedasa, which lands in March or April. For 24 hours the island observes the four prohibitions of Catur Brata: no fire or bright light, no work, no travel and no entertainment. The rules apply to everyone, foreigners included. Ngurah Rai airport and all transport hubs close, no planes land or take off, shops and markets shut, and local watchmen (pecalang) stop anyone they find outside.

In practice: book flights for the day before and the day after, buy food, medicine and anything else you need beforehand, and plan to spend the day in your hotel. The ministry notes that hotels still allow television at low volume and dim lights inside your room, but not lights on the balcony. If you fall ill, call the hotel for an ambulance rather than trying to go out.

The days before Nyepi are the reason to be there. Villages take their temple's sacred objects to the sea, a lake or a spring for the Melasti purification. On the eve, Ngrupuk or Tawur Kesanga, each village performs a cleansing ritual at its crossroads and parades its ogoh-ogoh — papier-mâché demons representing evil spirits — before burning them. Bali's 2026 calendar of events also listed a Denpasar Ogoh-Ogoh Parade and the Kesanga Fest in March, and the Omed-Omedan. For 2027, the eve of Nyepi is Sunday 7 March; the following day is the first day of the Lebaran collective leave, so book your flight out well ahead.

Galungan, Kuningan and Bali's festival season

Galungan is the Balinese festival you are most likely to see without planning for it, because it comes round every 210 days on the Balinese pawukon calendar and can therefore fall twice in one year. It celebrates the victory of dharma over adharma; families believe ancestral spirits come home to visit, and Kuningan, the last day of the celebration, marks their return. The obvious sign is the penjor: tall curved bamboo poles hung with woven palm-leaf decorations and offerings, set up outside houses along whole roads. In the days before, families cook bananas and rice cakes for offerings and prepare feasts.

Galungan is not on the national holiday list and, unlike Nyepi, it does not close the airport or the roads, so there is little to plan around except the chance to see it. Temples are the centre of the celebration, so expect them to be busy with worshippers. We could not find the dates on an official site, so ask your hotel when you book.

If you want a festival rather than a holiday, the Bali Arts Festival (Pesta Kesenian Bali) is the biggest. When we checked on 2026-10-03, the Ministry of Tourism listed the 2026 edition in Denpasar from 13 June to 11 July, free to attend, with parades, classical and Bali Aga performances, exhibitions and competitions. The province's 2026 calendar names 56 events in all, from kite festivals in May and August to the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in October and the Sanur Village Festival in November. Expect the 2027 programme to follow a similar shape, but check the dates when they are announced.

Waisak at Borobudur

Indonesia's national Waisak celebration is centred on Borobudur in Magelang, Central Java. The Ministry of Tourism describes it as marking three events in the life of the Buddha — birth, enlightenment and passing — at the full moon in May or early June. The ceremonies follow a fixed sequence: holy water is drawn from the Umbul Jumprit spring in Temanggung and a flame taken from the natural eternal fire at Mrapen in Grobogan; both are kept at Mendut temple and then carried in procession to Borobudur. On the day, monks and pilgrims pray, walk three times round the monument in pradaksina, and meditate at the exact moment of the full moon, which is calculated astronomically and can fall in daylight.

For most visitors the draw is the lantern release (Lentera Puja) after dark. It is an organised, ticketed event, not something you can join by just turning up. In 2019 the ministry reported separate sessions for the public and for Buddhist participants, a lantern ticket of IDR 100,000 bought on site the day before, and a separate entry ticket to the Borobudur complex. Arrangements have changed since, so treat these as examples and wait for the organisers' announcement for 2027; Waisak falls on Thursday 20 May 2027 under the holiday decree.

Waisak is a religious ceremony first. Dress modestly, keep back from monks and the altar, and do not use flash or block processions for photographs. The ministry warns that hotels close to Borobudur are fully booked around Vesak, so book a room in Borobudur village or Wanurejo as soon as you know your dates. In 2027 Waisak also sits at the end of the Idul Adha break, so expect busier roads from Yogyakarta.

Ramadan and Lebaran: travelling through the fasting month

Ramadan does not stop travel, but it changes the rhythm of the day. The ministry notes that many restaurants and food stalls close in the daytime, or stay open with curtains drawn out of respect for those fasting, while fast-food and larger restaurants usually keep normal hours. In the late afternoon, takjil stalls selling sweet snacks for breaking the fast appear around markets and large mosques, and this is one of the best times of year to eat street food. Light sleepers should know that mosques often broadcast the pre-dawn sahur call over loudspeakers, so do not choose a room next to one.

Lebaran — Idul Fitri at the end of Ramadan — is the part to plan around. The ministry explains that the holiday is usually stretched by 7 to 10 days of collective leave because families travel back to their home towns, the annual mudik. Expect trains, flights, ferries and Java's toll roads to fill before the holiday and again on the way back. If your dates touch Lebaran, book long-distance transport early and plan to stay put in one place over the main days. See our Ramadan guide for the fasting month in more detail.

Regional festivals worth timing a trip around

These are set locally and their dates are confirmed late, often only a few months ahead. Use the Ministry of Tourism's event calendar to check the year's listing before you book flights, and expect the busiest hotels of the year in small towns during the festival.

• Baliem Valley Festival, Wamena (Papua Highlands), August: mock battles, dances, pig races and bakar batu stone cooking by Dani, Lani and Yali groups. When we checked, the ministry listed the 34th festival on 7–8 August 2026, free to attend. Visitors fly in via Jayapura; see our Baliem Valley guide.
• Pasola, West Sumba, around February–March: two groups of horsemen charge each other with wooden spears during the sacred Nyale month. The ministry listed the 2024 West Sumba Pasola on 1 March at the Bara Bedang field in Wanukaka. The date is fixed each year, so check the listing.
• Bau Nyale, south Lombok, early in the year: the Sasak catch of nyale sea worms on the beaches around Seger and Mandalika, on the 20th day of the tenth Sasak month, from night until dawn, in memory of the legend of Princess Mandalika. In 2021 the catch took place on 3–4 March.
• Dieng Culture Festival, Central Java, August: a community-run festival on the Dieng Plateau whose centrepiece is the ruwatan ritual for children with dreadlocked hair. The 2026 edition ran from 28 to 30 August.
• Yadnya Kasada, Mount Bromo, East Java: the Tenggerese throw offerings of vegetables, fruit, livestock and flowers into Bromo's crater on the 14th day of the month of Kasada, after prayers at Luhur Poten temple in the Sea of Sand.
• Grebeg Sekaten, Yogyakarta: a week of palace gamelan, a night market on the north square and the Gunungan procession from the Kraton to the Great Mosque, to mark the Prophet's birthday (Maulid, 15 August 2027 under the decree).
• Cap Go Meh, 15 days after Chinese New Year: lion dances, lantern parades and food in Chinese-Indonesian communities; the ministry names Glodok in Jakarta, Bogor, Semarang, Singkawang, Manado and Kemaro Island in Palembang.