The National Mask and Warwagira Festival

Thie National Mask and Warwagira Festival is a tribute to the culture and people of PNG’s East New Britain province – the Tolai, Baining and Pomio tribes. Celebrating their fascinating mask cultures in the coastal town of Kokopo in July, the event is an extravaganza of dancing, ritual performance and story-telling.

The celebrations at the Ralum showground begin when traditional Tolai shell money is exchanged, and at night, Baining fire dancers come from their mountain homes to perform, walking through flames in huge masks. Rare masked dance performances are also put on by the Pomio and Sulka people, who reportedly travel for miles across the region to participate in the festival.

“Aside from the astonishing landscape of lush jungles, volcanoes and crystal clear waters of East New Britain, there are also hundreds of different cultural groups that have developed in virtual isolation from each other,” says Yolli Rado, Intrepid product manager for Oceania. “The Mask Festival is an opportunity to see some of these groups come together in a spectacle of rhythm and color.”

When: July
Where: East New Britain, Guinea