We’re proud to partner with BaliSpirit Festival to bring our readers this event. Too bad we can’t come!

With a little thought, we could probably come up with 105 reasons. Come on, it’s a global yoga & music festival—with an incredible line-up of workshop presenters to experience during the day and world musicians to shake your booty to at night. In Bali. What’s not to like? Given the limitations of time, space and attention span, however, we decided to keep it short.

Here, in no particular order, are five of the top reasons to make a pilgrimage to Bali for this year’s 7th annual BaliSpirit Festival in March 2014.

1. A line-up of high-quality yoga teachers from around the world.

Teachers this year hail from Greece, Germany, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Jamaica, Japan, China, Malaysia, Mexico, Spain, the UK, and the USA. Styles on offer include Anusara, Forrest, Acro, Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga & Shamanism, Kundalini, Yin & Yang, Thai Yoga Therapy and more. Whether you’re coming for a steady diet of your favourite classes or you’re more interested in sampling a smorgasbord of unknown pleasures, you’ll find more options than you can shake a rolled-up yoga mat at. Namas-take your pick.

2.  Bali is Magic.

Unless you’ve been there, it’s hard to convey the aura of this remarkable island. The impossibly green rice fields; the warmth and hospitality of the Balinese; the rich cultural and spiritual traditions. It all adds up to a sense that this is a place where the extraordinary is commonplace and the next miracle is only a heartbeat away. The venues, Purnati Center for the Arts and the Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA), both in Ubud, showcase the finest aspects of what makes Bali so special.

3. BaliSpirit Festival changes lives.  

Everyone has a story about how they first came to BaliSpirit. Ask around, and you’ll hear tales of bold leaps of faith and mysterious happenstance. Some people never return to their place of origin. Others make their trip to Bali for the annual festival, often rekindling friendships forged in previous years. Experiences shared during the all-too-brief days and nights of the festival provide a nourishment that lingers long after the event itself.

4. Some of those lives are Balinese.

Many participants, staff and volunteers, without whom staging the festival would be impossible, come from Bali or elsewhere in Indonesia. Along with the joy of being part of the festival, the amazing contributors gain valuable experience staging a world-class event. Some of the proceeds generated by the festival support vital outreach work to (for example) protect the usage of the Balinese language, reforest the eastern edge of the island with Bamboo, run children’s educations programs and educate about the incidence of HIV and AIDS in Balinese communities.

5. Did we mention the music?

Unlike most world music festivals, the BaliSpirit Festival highlights both well known and emerging international artists who have a strong community outreach bent of their own. Moreover, the BaliSpirit specializes in music that feeds the soul, complementing the vibe of the daytime program. Indonesian performers are supported strongly, and the line-up is booked with the overall message of the festival firmly in mind.

Need more reasons? We’ll let you take it from here.

Be the change,

See you in Bali!

For more information and tickets check out the Bali Spirit Festival website: http://balispiritfestival.com/tickets

 Photos: BaliSpirit Festival