Papua New Guinea

Cultural Events

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Papua New Guinea’s unique and untouched culture will exceed all your expectations. In remote villages throughout Papua New Guinea you can find tribes that passionately maintain their individual heritage through their art, sing sings, dancing and initiations. Visit for example the Baining Fire Dancers near Rabaul and the Asaro Mud Men and Huli Wigmen in the Highland regions. These tribes in their traditional clothing and colourful make up love to perform and welcome visitors into their fold to learn more about the customs of their tribe.

Visits to these villages will also provide you with plenty of opportunities to see and in some instances purchase primitive art, timber carvings, masks (decorated with hair, shells, pig tusks), string bags (bilums), crafts, hand dyed Tapa cloth, woven baskets, penis gords and clay pots - and endless opportunities for fantastic, very colourful holiday shots.

If you seek a true cultural explosion of colour and sound then take the opportunity to go to one of the regular festivals: The Goroka and Mt Hagen Shows are world famous but also consider the Canoe Festival in Alotau, the Yam Festival in the Trobriand Islands or the week-long Malagan Festival in Kavieng - any one of which will provide you with an unforgettable experience of large numbers of colourful, often raucous, tribes performing en-mass (in some instances this means thousands of participants).

FESTIVAL AND EVENT CALENDAR:

March

PNG National Game Fishing Titles
27^th - 5^th (April)
Lae, Morobe Province

April

Gogodala Canoe Festival
Balimo - Western Province

PNG Coffee Festival & Trade Fair
Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province

June

Ahi Cultural Show
Sir Ignatius Kilege Stadium, Lae City, Morobe Province

Wawin National Cultural Show
Queen's Birthday Weekend
Umi Adtzera LLG, Markham District

July

Warwagira Provincial Cultural Show
8^th - 14^th
Rabaul, East New Britain Province

National Mask Festival
14^th - 17^th
Rabaul, East New Britain Province.
First staged in 1995, the Mask Festival aims to preserve, in a living form, the mask cultures of Papua New Guinea. The festival showcases Papua New Guinea&s mask culture and attracts displays and performers from all over the country, providing opportunities to see both common and rare masks.

Kavieng District Cultural Show (Previously known as Malagan Festival)
23^rd - 25^th
Police Oval, Kavieng Town

Zumim Pottery Show
24^th & 25^th
Zumim Village, Umi Adtzera LLG, Markham District

Kono Wokisok Festival
27^th - 29^th
Kono Village, West Coast Central New Ireland

Kontu/Tembin Shark Calling
30^th - 2^nd (August)
Kontu Village West Coast New Ireland

August

Iwal Cultural Festival
Kamiatam Village, Black Cat Track Country, Salamaua LLGC, Huon Gulf District, Morobe Province

Enga Cultural Show
6^th - 8^th
Wabag, Enga Province

Mt. Hagen Show
14^th & 15^th
PNG is made up of 700 different tribes and many of them converge on Mt Hagen every August to recreate their own legends. At this festival you will experience the power and diversity of culture in PNG. You will find yourself captivated by the rhythm and colour as dancers whirl to the sound of the beating drums. The Highlanders are very proud and competitive people and the show is therefore a vibrant and energetic display.

Namatanai Mask Festival
5^th - 8^th
Namatanai Town

Ambunti Crocodile Festival
11^thth
Ambunti District, East Sepik Province

Tufi Cultural Show
20^th - 22^nd
Tufi, Oro Province

International Orchid Festival
Port Moresby, National Capital District

September

Gobari Ex-Serviceman Cultural Show
14^th - 16^th
Gobari Ex-Serviceman Oval, Lae District, Morobe Province

Garamut na Mambu Festival
Wewak, East Sepik Province

Hiri Moale Festival
Central Province
This colourful festival was originally designed to preserve the Hiri Trade expeditions between the Motu-Koitabu people and the Erema (Kerema) people on PNG's south-west coast. The Motu-Koitabu would undertake a 3-month journey by Lagatoi (traditional canoe) to trade clay pots for sago and canoe logs from the Erema. Today, the festival features traditional dances, the Hiri Queen contest (a beauty pageant), the arrival of the Lagatoi (traditional canoes), canoe racing, musical presentations and an arts and crafts exhibition.

Goroka Show
17^th - 19^th
Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province
The Goroka Show is an intense display of the rich and vibrant culture of PNG. Tribes from all over gather in the town of Goroka for a weekend of music, dancing and amazing displays of tribal rituals. This is one of the biggest shows in the Highlands and can attract up to 140,000 people, including 40,000 painted warriors dancing to the rhythmic thud of the Kundu drums.

October

Morobe Provincial Agricultural Show
23^rd - 24th
Lae Show Grounds, Lae City, Morobe Province
The varied displays at this show including poultry, mining, traditional building materials and schools exhibitions. Morobe culture is celebrated with traditional Sing-Sing groups from around the province. There is also contemporary rock and string band music.

November

Kundu & Canoe Festival
5^th - 7^th
Alotau, Milne Bay Province

PNG Surfing Association National Championship Titles
Vanimo, Sandaun Province

Papua New Guinea Arts & Cultural Festival
This national festival is designed to preserve the different forms of culture in PNG, with performances from traditional dance groups, contemporary groups and individual artists.