300 people lock lips in Bali festival
AFP
Friday, March 31, 2006 19:20 ISTJAKARTA: About 300 people took part in an annual kissing festival in the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
Mainly young men and women took part in the ritual, meant to ward off unexpected dangers, which was attended by about 2,000 people, the Detikcom newsportal said.
The event in the main town Denpasar was traditionally a cheeks-only affair but lip-kissing has become the norm in recent years.
Kadek Dedek Wirawan said he had taken part three times. "But only now I got to kiss lips," he told Detikcom.
Bali is mainly Hindu, unlike most of Indonesia that is the world's most populous Muslim nation.