Ubud holds peace and unity festival after bomb attack

Damaso Reyes, Contributor, Ubud, Bali

For the first time since a series of bomb blasts shook the heart of Bali, the cafes and restaurants of Ubud were full.

Tourists could be seen wandering up and down the back roads of this mountain retreat and the main streets bustled with activity.

For two days over the weekend Balinese, expatriates and tourists came together in what they called a celebration of peace and unity. The festival, included music, performances as well as art exhibitions.

Local hotels and restaurants offered discounts from 15 percent to 50 percent in an attempt to lure back some of the visitors both foreign and domestic who fled the island in the wake of the terrorist attack on Oct. 12.

What was intended to be a small gathering for the local community quickly grew in size and scale as word spread.

Thousands of people, expatriates as well as Balinese joined in a procession from the nearby village of Peliatan to the soccer field in Ubud where they were welcomed by several thousand more who had come for the ceremonies and music to be held there.

Poetry, dance and local performers were prominently featured in the two day fair.

The festival was not only conceived as a tribute to peace and unity but as an opportunity for the local community to cleanse itself from the effects of the bombing last month.

Christians, Muslims as well as Hindus participated in several ceremonies held over the length of the festival.

After a series of prayers and invocations, a group of doves were released into the early evening sky of the first night, a symbol of the harmony that the participants were trying to exhibit.

"We are still here together living in peace and harmony, this was our way of showing that to the world and the terrorists," said Nyoman Suradnya, owner of a local home stay and batik center as well as one of the event organizers. "This is the wrong soil for terrorists to grow in," he added.

The aftermath of the bombs in Kuta had a profound effect on this small community, considered by many who come here from abroad as the heart and soul of Bali.

Hundreds of expatriates and Balinese came together, volunteering time and money for the bombing victims and to help organize the festival.

Nyoman tells the story of an elderly village man who wished to donate money for the festival. He peered into the headquarters of the organizers hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure he should enter.

Finally Nyoman came to him and asked how he could help him.

The grandfather replied that he wanted to give some money but that he was embarrassed because it was in his words "very little."

Nyoman assured him that his donation was needed and appreciated. The village man took a small roll of money and one by one he unfurled ten weathered and wrinkled one thousand rupiah notes.

"To see all these different people working together really moved me as a Balinese," Nyoman said. "We all worked so closely together I think because we were all struck by the same arrow," he added.

As the investigation which has already netted one suspect continues, Balinese and Indonesians throughout the archipelago continue the healing process from the nation's worst ever terrorist attack.

While it may be months or years before tourism comes back to pre-attack levels, the local communities of Bali are proceeding with their lives and the more hearty foreign visitors are taking advantage of the huge discounts and empty streets to enjoy a Bali that hasn't been seen in many years.