Bali Culture Office Explains Reasons for Using Event Organiser in This Year's Bali Arts Festival

Denpasar (ANTARA) - The Head of the Bali Culture Office (Disbud), Ida Bagus Alit Suryana, stated that the use of an Event Organiser (EO) or organising service for the 2026 Bali Arts Festival (PKB) is being implemented for the first time for the benefit of the artists.

“We are in line with the evaluation results of the ongoing PKB implementation. Last year, after the artists performed, they had to wait a long time for payment. Based on that, we are using an EO to make the administration faster,” said Disbud Head Alit Suryana in Denpasar on Wednesday.

This was stated in response to public reactions regarding the reasons why the 48th PKB must use organising services, whereas the previous 47 years were managed directly by the office.

In the organisation of the 2026 PKB titled “Atma Kerti: Jiwa Sidha Parisudha”, he intends to introduce a new pattern in the implementation system to improve the quality of services, especially for the artists involved.

With the EO in the upcoming June PKB, he said, the organising service will advance the costs immediately after the artists perform.

Not only targeting faster administration, Alit Suryana said they will also improve the quality of on-site technical services, from stage arrangement, lighting, to sound systems, which can be handled more professionally.

“The main point is that we are providing better, more professional services to the artists or performing arts practitioners at the PKB,” he said.

The public also questioned the potential for money games in the EO payment scheme, because when the Bali Disbud handles the PKB independently, payments are made to each party individually, whereas with an EO, payments are made in bulk.

Regarding this concern, the Head of the Bali Disbud assured that from the beginning of the EO company’s appointment, it has gone through the e-purchasing mechanism, so it is not done directly by the government.

“That means we do not determine it, we classify it; this is through the e-Catalogue procurement which clearly has a cooperation scheme with the EO still referring to the applicable procurement mechanisms,” said Alit Suryana.