The Goroka Show

The Goroka Show is a well-known cultural event in the country. This magnificent celebration, set against the natural grandeur and rolling mountains of the Highlands Region, attracts visitors from all over the world, and the town's population surges to approximately 150,000 people for two days in mid-September. On the country's Independence Day weekend, they congregate at Goroka's National Sports Institute to watch performances by various tribes. Performers wear feathers and body paints that are specific to their cultures. Many also sport headdresses that would make an ornithologist blush — birds of paradise feathers are boldly displayed alongside those of other rare bird species.

Over 100 clan groups participate in the three-day festival, which is a cacophony of sing-songs. The renowned Mudmen of Asaro, who put on a furious display of spear waving coated heat-to-toe in gray mud with ugly clay masks to scare the living daylights out of their enemy, are among those involved in this brawl.

When: in September

Where: Eastern Highlands