On a limestone escarpment overlooking the tourist playground of Bali's Kuta Beach, survivors of last year's bomb attacks and grieving relatives will pay tribute today to the 202 people who died.
Australia, which lost 88 citizens when Indonesian Muslim militants blew up two nightclubs, is organising the main commemorative service that will start at 8:00 a.m. (0000 GMT).
Other events will run during the day, finishing with a small Balinese ceremony at the bomb site at 11:08 p.m. (1508 GMT), the exact time that many fun-filled holidays on this lush island paradise were brought to a hellish end one year ago.
Indonesia has warned that Muslim militants were planning more attacks in the country and had built two bombs but insisted Bali was safe for the hundreds of foreign mourners here.
For many, the emotion of returning to this mainly Hindu enclave of the world's most populous Muslim nation has been raw.
"I will never find closure because these criminals killed a lot of people, hurt my body and my family," said Perth roofing contractor Mr Peter Hughes, arm coverings on to protect burn scars.
Many Australians and other nationals have paused in front in the site where the Sari Club was once a beacon to hedonism, only to start sobbing, or to paste photos of their dead loved ones on board that stretches the length of the now empty lot.
Dozens of floral wreathes have been laid there. Across the road, the names of the 202 dead from 20 countries have been recorded on a memorial.
Indonesia has blamed the Bali bombings on Jemaah Islamiah, the Southeast Asian militant group with links to al Qaeda. The blasts were the worst attacks since the September 11, 2001 strikes on the United States.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard flew into Bali yesterday and will attend the main commemorative service at the Garuda Wisnu Cultural Park, 20 minutes drive from Kuta.
There, with giant copper and bronze statues of the Hindu God Wisnu and the Garuda bird, a symbol of freedom, as the backdrop, Australian military chaplains will hold an open-air Christian service. It will combine elements of Islam and Hinduism.
For Australia, the atrocity was akin to the island continent's own September 11, shattering the feeling that it was immune to the arbitrary violence of terrorism.
Indonesia is not making October 12 a day of remembrance, saying such events have already been held. President Megawati Sukarnoputri will not be attending.
Indonesia lost 38 people, mainly Balinese, while 23 Britons, nine Swedes and seven Americans also died. The blasts also shattered the tourist industry in one of Asia's travel gems.
According to security experts, it is only a matter of time before Jemaah Islamiah strikes again in Indonesia.