Nyepi: the day Bali closes the airport
1 h route3 stopsBest: It falls in March or April and moves each year: check before bookingUpdated July 2026
This goes first in all our Bali guides because it’s the one thing that can literally stop you entering or leaving the island, and plenty of people find out once the flight is booked.
Nyepi is the Balinese New Year and it is the day of silence. For 24 hours the entire island stops: nobody leaves home, nobody works, no lights are switched on, no noise is made, not one car moves. And the international airport closes. There are no flights: no arrivals, no departures, for a full day. It’s the only time in the world an international airport shuts for a religious reason.
The route, stop by stop
3 STOPS- 01
What exactly happens that day
The rules come to four and they cover everyone, Balinese and foreigners alike: no fire or lights, no working, no travelling, and no entertainment or noise. They’re enforced. Traditional wardens, the pecalang, patrol the streets and will walk you back to your accommodation if they find you out.
For a tourist it means: you stay in your hotel for 24 hours, no exceptions. Hotels keep feeding their guests and you can be on the grounds, but with lights low and curtains drawn, and you don’t step onto the street.
In some years mobile internet has been cut across the whole island for the day too. And the airport is sealed shut.
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The eve, which is the opposite
The good part comes the night before, and does precisely the opposite. They celebrate Ngrupuk, a parade in which every neighbourhood brings out an ogoh-ogoh: a giant demon figure made of bamboo and paper that they’ve been building for weeks. They’re several metres tall, spectacular and grotesque, and they’re paraded with gamelan, torches and every bit of noise available.
The idea is that the racket wakes and draws the evil spirits, and the next day, with the island in absolute silence and darkness, the spirits pass by believing it’s uninhabited.
At the end of the parade the ogoh-ogoh are burned. If your trip coincides, don’t miss it: it’s the best night of the year in Bali, and the contrast with the following 24 hours has no equal.
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How to plan around it
The date changes every year because it follows the Balinese lunar calendar: it falls in March or early April. The first thing to do when planning a Bali trip is look up that year’s Nyepi date and check your flight doesn’t land on it.
If it does, there are two options and both are valid. Avoid it: move the flight by a day. Or use it: stay, and experience the parade the night before and the day of silence, which doesn’t exist anywhere else on the planet. What you cannot do is land or take off that day, or move around the island.
And beware the day after: flights pile up and the airport is saturated.
Frequently asked
What is Nyepi in Bali?
The Balinese New Year and the day of silence: for 24 hours the whole island stops (nobody goes out, no lights, no noise) and the international airport closes completely, no arrivals or departures. It falls in March or early April and the date moves each year.
Can you fly to Bali on Nyepi?
No: Denpasar airport closes for 24 hours and no flights operate, arriving or departing. It’s the only time in the world an international airport shuts for a religious reason. Check the date before buying your ticket, because it moves each year.
What are ogoh-ogoh?
Giant demon figures of bamboo and paper that each neighbourhood builds over weeks and parades the night before Nyepi, with gamelan and torches. The noise draws the evil spirits so that the next day, with the island silent, they believe it’s uninhabited. They’re burned at the end.