Indonesian Police Pull Permit for Andrea Bocelli's Borobudur Concert

Magelang Police have revoked the permit recommendation for Andrea Bocelli's concert at Borobudur Temple, scheduled for 31 October 2026. The withdrawal came after the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the country's top body of Muslim clerics, called for the event to be cancelled.

The concert is part of Bocelli's Romanza – 30th Anniversary World Tour, marking three decades of the album that made the Italian tenor a global crossover star. Borobudur, a ninth-century Buddhist temple in Central Java and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Indonesia's most sensitive cultural venues — and it sits within the jurisdiction of Magelang Police.

"We did receive an application for a permit for the event. But as of today, we have revoked it," Deputy Chief of Magelang Police AKBP Bim Rekoaji said on Tuesday, 13 October.

Why was the permit withdrawn?

The MUI's objection rests on reports of Bocelli's alleged links to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The clerical body cited those reports when it called for the concert's cancellation. The police withdrawal of the permit recommendation followed that call.

The source material reports the allegation as an allegation — no evidence is detailed, and Bocelli's side has not responded in the reporting available. That matters: the permit decision was driven by a claim that remains unverified in public.

What does this change for the concert?

In the Indonesian permit system, a police recommendation is a practical prerequisite for staging a large public event. Revoking it effectively blocks the concert from proceeding at Borobudur as planned, unless the decision is reversed or the event moves to another venue or jurisdiction.

Neither the promoter nor Bocelli's management has announced a relocation, a new date, or a cancellation statement in the reporting available. The tour itself continues internationally — only the Borobudur stop is affected so far.

The bigger picture

The case shows how religious councils and local police can shape cultural programming in Indonesia, one of the world's largest live-entertainment markets in Southeast Asia. International artists booking heritage or religiously sensitive sites now face a clear precedent: an unresolved political allegation can cost a permit weeks before opening night.

Whether Bocelli's team contests the withdrawal, or the MUI produces evidence for its claim, will determine if the 31 October date survives at all.