About the Festival in Lovina
“BULELENG is proud!” That’s what the news said. Those words emerged after the Lovina Festival was officially included in the Karisma Event Nusantara (KEN) 2025 which was announced by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenkraf RI).
In addition to the Lovina Festival, another festival included in KEN 2025 is the Pemuteran Bay Festival which is held at Pemuteran Village Beach, Gerokgak District.
The Lovina Festival can actually be called a festival that has great potential to be known to the world. This festival has a number of unique features that festivals in other areas do not have.
First Held in 2012
The Lovina Festival was first held in 2012 with a name according to Indonesian language rules: the Lovina Festival. The center of its implementation is at Lovina Beach, Kalibukbuk Village, Buleleng District, precisely at Binaria Beach or in the Dolphin Statue area.
The goal, of course, is to promote tourism, because Lovina is known as one of the famous beach tourism destinations in North Bali.
"The world of tourism in Buleleng, especially Lovina as an icon of North Bali tourism, has not shown significant development, so special steps are needed through various activities involving all components of society in Buleleng," said I Ketut Warkadea who in 2012 served as Head of the Culture and Tourism Office of Buleleng Regency.
Since 2012 to 2025, the Lovina Festival has continued to be held with various changes, except during the pandemic.
The 2012 Lovina Festival carries the slogan "Lovina for All and All for Lovina. This means that perhaps Lovina belongs to all Buleleng residents.
Combining Agrarian and Maritime Arts and Culture
The event materials at the Lovina Festival are quite unique because they combine elements of agrarian (agricultural) arts and culture and maritime (marine) arts and culture.
With such a combination, the activities of the Lovina Festival are varied. There are art and culture performances from the agricultural world such as sapi gerubungan, there are also cultural attractions from the maritime world such as bonangan, as well as social actions such as cleaning the beach, caring for coral reefs, and recreational beach sports involving tourists and Buleleng residents.
Combining Traditional and Modern Arts and Culture
For traditional arts, in addition to the gong kebyar performance which is held almost every year, at the Lovina Festival there are also often traditional art performances that are quite rare, such as Sanghyang Memedi and Sanghyang Penyalin.
Modern art is certainly never absent from the Lovina Festival. Every year there are music concerts from local musicians, and occasionally there are film screenings.
Trying to Showcase the Spirit of Anak Agung Panji Tisna and Literary Works
The Lovina Festival always tries to get closer to the spirit of the writer Anak Agung Panji Tisna, as the figure who founded the Lovina tourist destination.
At the 2016 Lovina Festival, books by the writer Anak Agung Panji Tisna were displayed, such as the famous book "Sukreni Gadis Bali". The display of the book was perhaps to remember Panji Tisna, who apart from being a writer of the New Poet generation in Indonesia, was also the founder of Lovina.
Built by Panji Tisna
Amidst changing times, Anak Agung Panji Tisna, choosing the quiet life of a writer over his royal title, pioneered tourism on Bali's northcoast in Tukad Cebol (now Kaliasem Village). Inspired by Mumbai, he built a small inn he named Lovina, a portmanteau for "Love-Ina" (lovefor the motherland), aiming to revive Buleleng's serene essence. Despite being abandoned when power shifted south and even facing aban on its name, Lovina endured.
Panji Tisna passed his vision to his brother, Anak Agung Ngurah Sentanu, and with the opening of NgurahRai Airport and the Bali Beach Hotel, Lovina's pulse returned. Today, Lovina thrives, a testament to Panji Tisna's quiet dedication and hisfoundational role as a pioneer of Balinese tourism.
Organisation of the Festival
The coordination meeting which took place on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at 10.00 WITA until finished, took place in the Meeting Room of the Buleleng Regency Tourism Office, led directly by the Head of the Buleleng Regency Tourism Office, Gede Dody Sukma Oktiva Askara, and accompanied by the Head of Marketing, Agus Widya Suputra.
The agenda of this meeting focused on discussing the initial stages of implementing activities, as well as strengthening synergy between stakeholders to support the success of the 2025 Lovina Festival. In the meeting, several important points discussed included solidifying the event material to be presented, compiling interesting festival content, and compiling a structured Budget Plan (RAB) for activities.
One of the meeting participants, Mr. Nyoman Aria Astawa, expressed his hope that this year's event would feature the panglingsir puri as the founding figure of Lovina, as a form of respect for local history and culture. In addition, he also emphasized the importance of organizing activities with adequate budget support and oriented towards clear output.
From the BPC PHRI Buleleng Regency, the representatives who attended proposed that promotional materials such as flyers or event announcements be prepared and distributed well in advance. This is considered important so that promotions can be carried out optimally, including utilizing the momentum of tourism events outside the region as an event to introduce the Lovina Festival.
In the discussion session, it was also conveyed that for the involvement of MSME actors, especially culinary traders, priority is given to those selling traditional Buleleng snacks or foods, so that tourists can directly experience the richness of authentic local flavors.
The parties present at this coordination meeting include:
- Head of Kalibukbuk Village
- Head of Kaliasem Village
- Head of Kalibukbuk Traditional Village
- Head of Kaliasem Traditional Village
- Head of Banyualit Traditional Village
- Head of Binaria Beach Management
- Head of BPC PHRI Buleleng Regency
- Mr. Nyoman Aria Astawa
- Behind-the-Scenes Event Organizer
Through this coordination meeting, it is hoped that all stakeholders involved can continue to establish solid communication and cooperation in order to realize the 2025 Lovina Festival as a classy, competitive, and attractive event for Buleleng culture, tourism, and creative economy promotion.
