ENGA CULTURAL SHOW, 9th - 11th August 2019
Every year, in early August, the tribes from all across Enga Province in the remote Highlands region of Papua New Guinea, gather in the thousands to showcase their ancient traditional culture – costumes, dances, chants, rituals and skills – and to celebrate their culture’s resilience in the face of modern civilisation.
Until only very recently, Enga Province and its peoples remained untouched by the outside world. It was in the 1930’s when the outside world, Australian explorers, first ventured up this way and another 20 years, the 1950’s, for modern development to start.
With just a generation between now and “first contact”, this truly is the world’s last frontier, where traditional lifestyles and practices are still very much intact
This is what sets The Enga Cultural Show apart from all the other PNG Highlands shows - its pure authenticity – a showcase that is 100% Engan.
Hosted in the provincial capital town of Wabag, surrounded by majestic escarpments, breathtaking scenery and pristine Highlands air, The Enga Cultural Show is staged annually over three days from Friday to Sunday on the second weekend in August.
Although thousands of people attend the event each year, only a handful of these are outsiders. The Enga Cultural Show is still “undiscovered” by tourists, so visitors really do feel a special sense of intimacy from their show experience.
You will be immersed back into another time as you wander the showgrounds and witness displays and demonstrations of important ancient rituals, arts and crafts and valuable traditional life skills.
At the center piece of The Enga Cultural is a mind-boggling mass display of traditional dance, where the cacophony of costumes, chants and beats will leave you with a lasting impression of the sheer diversity and vibrancy of Engan cultures and a deeper sense of connection with humanity’s past.
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