Days 12-13: The Hagen Festival
The event we had all been waiting for had finally arrived. We would be attending the celebrated Hagen Festival. First staged in 1961, before PNG’s Independence, as an event to unify warring tribes, the show has evolved into a stunning display of the incredible diversity of Papua New Guinea.
The Hagen brings together more than 80 unique and colorful sing-sing groups from across the country. Each group has their own unique set of traditions, ceremonial dress and dance, all of which are proudly showcased.
Created in the Highlands in 1961, The Hagen Festival was used as a means of encouraging warring clans to come together to reconcile group animosities.
Similar to the Paiyakuna show, which I discussed in my last post, entering the showgrounds here was once again like entering another world. I was compelled to take a moment to pull back from the lens of my camera and take in my surroundings.
The Sights and Sounds
Even though this was a much larger venue, the explosion of color was the first thing I truly noticed. The face paints in vibrant reds and yellows, contrasting black and white, and the occasional pop of cyan blue. Massive masks crafted from mud-baked clay and decorated with animal teeth. Clothing assembled from grasses, leaves and animal pelts. Intricate headdresses crafted from real hair, fabric and mosses, accented with the plumage of the most colorful indigenous birds. Breastplates made of kina shell, necklaces made of bone and pig’s tusks and armbands masterfully woven from grasses.
Warriors carried intricately carved masks, spears and axes and marched to the beat of the ubiquitous kundu drum. Musicians played instruments made from household items like tubing and plastic slippers. The accessory of choice for one group of women was livestock, namely piglets! The hypnotic chanting, rhythmic drumbeats and the synchronized movements of the performers had me mesmerized once again. The atmosphere was absolutely electric as each tribe celebrated and shared their traditions.
Little is known about many of the tribes that performed at the Hagen Festival. However, since my return home, I have been diligently researching them. Many groups had signage showing the tribes they represented and their regions, but upon further investigation I was unable to find any further information. Through interviews and casual conversations, I was able to glean a wealth of information about quite a few tribes. Then in a beautiful gesture of kindness, one of our hotels gifted me a book on Papua New Guinea culture. I will be forever grateful for their generosity and will definitely cherish their amazing gift. I will be posting individual tribe profiles and photos in the coming months and sharing this information, so stay tuned. Here is just a sampling of what I learned.
The Asaro Mudmen
The Asaro Mudmen of Pogla in Mount Hagen. I was given three different origins for their very distinctive dress and ornate masks. The most common one dates back to a time when the Asaro were at war with a fellow tribe. The warriors retreated into a mud-soaked riverbank where they became covered in pale, sunbaked mud. When the enemy discovered them on the riverbank, they believed they had encountered the ghosts or spirits of the Asaro that had been killed in battle and fled in a panic.
Realizing what had happened, the Asaro used this to their advantage. Since they believed the water of the Asaro River was poisonous, they coated only their bodies with mud, but left their faces bare. They then used rocks, sticks, and whatever they could find to create simple masks. When they appeared in this form, their enemies were even more terrified and the peaceful Asaro gained a reputation for being fierce warriors and were forever tied to the mud.
Today, the Asaro Mudmen don mud-baked masks with exaggerated features – pointed ears and brows, drooping tongues and pig bones piercing the nose. Their bodies are coated in a layer of clay-like mud which lightens in the sun. They don’t beat drums or chant, but instead they “stalk” their prey aiming at them with their bows and arrows.
The Tambul Tribesmen
Tambul tribesman from Alkena village in the Western Highlands. Tambul traditional “bilas” (body ornamentation) includes magnificent headdresses painted in bright colors and decorated with the plumage of indigenous birds. Their faces are painted in bright yellow and red to intimidate their enemies. Their songs and dances resemble war cries.
The Huli Wigmen
The Huli is the largest ethnic group in the Highlands with a population reportedly somewhere between 250,000 to 300,000 people. This tribe is renowned for the Huli Wigmen who hail from the Hela province. The Wigmen have an extraordinary presence that exudes strength and masculinity.
They are easily recognizable by their unique and colorful face and body paint made of red ochre and bright yellow clay. The clay is called ambua and is considered sacred in their culture. They are also renowned for their ornate headdresses made of actual hair.
Bandang Bafor Bamboo Band
I called this the PNG version of the Electric Slide accompanied by musicians playing tubes using flip flops. Talk about ingenuity!
We had a phenomenal time at the Hagen, but, alas, it was time to depart. We had to return to our lodge to pack up to move to the next stop on our itinerary later that afternoon. My holiday was still in full swing but I was already plotting how to return for the larger Goroka Festival (an unprecedented repeat visit to a nation may be going down in 2025, God spare life – stay tuned).
Up next: East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Make sure you don’t miss any posts from Soul-O-Travels.com by subscribing here:
Hi, Latonia, Your website is amazing. I was at the Paiya Village Show and Mount Hagen Festival in August also. I have several photos that are almost exactly the same as yours so we must have been standing right next to each other more than once. I am working on a Shutterfly digital photo book of this trip. As you say it’s hard to find info about the various tribes, so I’ve been using some of your info to do my journaling. You are an excellent writer and your photos are spectacular. I can feel the excitement of being there just by viewing your site. Thanks so much for posting.
Hi, Debbi!
Thanks so much for this lovely note. Wasn’t it amazing? I would love to see what you’ve been working on, as well.
I was so frustrated that there wasn’t more info available on the tribes. I am also working on a Cultural Snapshots category for my site where I’ll be sharing info on the Haus Tambaran and the few tribes I was able to find info on. I’m also curious how you found my site…I’m guessing Google? Thanks again for the encouragement!
Latonia