- KASANGA Fest is an ogoh-ogoh (papier mache demon) art festival in welcoming the Nyepi celebration in Denpasar City. Here are exhibited the results of the ogoh-ogoh competition of STT (youth club), mini ogoh-ogoh, ogoh-ogoh sketches and various culinary offerings by MSME
In order to welcome the Nyepi Caka Year 1945 the Denpasar City government held a Kasanga Fest which was officially opened by the Mayor of Denpasar, IGN Jaya Negara, together with the Deputy Mayor of Denpasar, I Kadek Agus Arya Wibawa and the Chairperson of the Denpasar City House of Representatives, I Gusti Ngurah Gede, at Puputan Badung (I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung) Square, Denpasar, on Friday (March 17).
The event taking place for two days (March 17-18) was a collaboration of the Denpasar City Government, Association Denpasar City Youth Club and the Sing Main-Main community. It is hoped that the event can become a forum for creativity for the youth of Denpasar City in the field of ogoh-ogoh craft art.
From the works on display, it can be seen that this Kesanga Fest combines a variety of existing creativities, which of course are still related to the nuances of the Nyepi Holy Day (March 22) without ignoring local wisdom values.
This Kasanga Fest posing the first time proudly exhibited ogoh-ogoh as the results of contest, namely 12 best ogoh-ogoh (large) works of STT throughout Denpasar City (included in the parade, 33 pieces of Mini Ogoh-ogoh and Ogoh-ogoh Sketch of 36 participants. Well, the no less interesting was the appearance of 12 pieces of ogoh-ogoh by kindergartens and early school students throughout Denpasar City.
In addition to art parades and competitions, this event was also enlivened by 40 MSMEs of Denpasar City that offered a variety of delicious food and drink offerings and other creative economic products as well as music performances at the Puputan Badung Square.
Kasanga Fest is expected to preserve Balinese culture combined with current technology. Besides, it is also a priority program for the Denpasar City government as a forum for creativity in art for the younger generation of Denpasar City.
Literally, Kasanga in Balinese means ‘ninth.’ Well, here it means that this festival is held in conjunction with the moment leading up to the implementation of Tawur Agung Kesanga (Pengrupukan) which falls on Sasih Kasanga–the ninth month in the Balinese calendar.
So this festival is very contextual with the moment of Nyepi Day where one of the cultural processions that is part of the celebration is the ogoh-ogoh parade. This event is a forum for ogoh-ogoh creators from Denpasar City to express their creative ideas and compete.
Ogoh-Ogoh Parade
The ogoh-ogoh parade which was held in the Catur Muka area on Saturday afternoon (March 18) went smoothly and lively. All the participants looked so enthusiastic about carrying their proud work. Of course, because apart from being paraded in their respective village areas, these works also appeared before the residents of Denpasar City.
The Kesanga Fest and Ogoh-Ogoh Parade were also witnessed by a number of foreign tourists. They were very enthusiastic about participating in this unique art parade. Of course, this is a good opportunity to introduce and promote Balinese culture, in this case art and religion—because this is related to the activities of welcoming Nyepi. Hopefully, this will become a new tourist attraction in the future like the Denpasar Festival.
