The island of Bali seems like one big arts festival to begin with--its dance, music, painting and puppetry are enmeshed aspects of the daily life of many Balinese. The addition of an official arts festival on top of all this activity must be something to behold. This year will mark the 28th annual Bali Arts Festival.

The following description is from the official website, which has yet to be updated for this year's festival. I'm not sure what "trances from remote mountain slopes" are, but I'm willing to find out...

The Bali Arts Festival is a full month of daily performances, handicraft exhibitions and other related cultural and commercial activities during which literally the whole of Bali comes to the city to present its offerings of dance, music and beauty. On display are trances from remote mountain slopes, forgotten or recently revived village dances, food and offering contests, classical palace dances, stars of Balinese stage, odd musical performances, "kreasi baru" (new creations) from the dance schools of Denpasar, as well as contemporary choreography and dance companies from other islands and from abroad.