If you want to see tribes (at least 50 of them), the Mount Hagan Cultural Festival which was held every August in Western Highlands Province should be a cultural event or something you must not miss. No worries, no cannibalism and no make do with corpse, but an event with various musical performances, cultural demonstrations and modern entertainments with stunning visual treat. In fact, many commented that Mount Hagan Cultural Festival is colourful to put Rio’s Mardi Gras in the shade, I guess only when you are there, you can truly feel and sense it!
The origin of Mount Hagan Cultural Festival was with the intention to stress the common cultural experiences and to celebrate individual tribe differences, and most importantly to improve relations between tribes as they had often been enemies for centuries. I would say this is a successful and inspired initiative, judging that it still in existence and has evolved over time into a major tourist/visitor attractions although Mount Hagan Cultural Festival remains firmly based on tribal culture.
Tribes wear face paint and bilas at the festival
You might want to know:
- Each tribe try to outdo each other with fantastic display, with bilas (what we so call traditional costumes) with feather headdresses and shell breastplates, elaborate face tattoos and bright body paints;
- A vibrant display of traditional ethnicity with dances, pounding drums and their unique sing-sings;
- With over 52,000 visitors (including international tourists) whose numbers keep increasing every year; and
- There are hundreds of tribes in Papua New Guinea.
Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoy my blog posting.
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