Tonight we went to the Sanur Village Festival. Much like the festivals we are used to in the States, there is food, drink, and live performances. The first photo is of a paper mache statue near the entrance, but I'm not sure of what it depicts. I wasn't able to get any other photos inside because night fall came quickly.
The next photos are of kites. These are popular this time of year here and they are huge! Just to give you scale, here is a photo of two mounted on a truck. One on top and one on the side. Like almost all things on Bali, kites have a religious (or spiritual) side. Balinese Hindu's believe that when the Indian god Indra enjoyed leisure time, he amused himself with kite-flying and taught young cattle herders how to fly them. Today though, they are built as a village (Banjar) tradition and the designs are passed down from one generation to the next. Kites are a symbol of both village pride and the village's unity. They are built and flown by almost all members of the village. The creation of each huge kite is very complex and requires many steps that demands the help of almost everyone in the village. They have people who transport, launch, and cheer.
When they are high up, you really don't realize how big and beautiful they are until you see them strapped to a side of a truck. The last photo is not mine. I found it online, but you get the idea of how big they can be.
I believe they even anchor them to the truck or else you would see the whole Banjar flying out to sea!
