2007 Morobe Show dates: Saturday 27th -Sunday 28th, October 2007

Approximately 9 months before the weekend of our Annual Morobe Show, the committee of the Morobe Province Agricultural Society begins active planning for their main Highlight Event of any one year in Morobe.

Practically the whole business community, Primary and High Schools, University, NGOs and the whole public in Lae and surrounding District areas are involved with display stalls, display centres, main arena events, cultural Singsing practices and artifacts making.

Our Annual Morobe Show is the premier cultural event in the Morobe Province that is held within the Lae Showgrounds which is located 5 minutes from the CBD. International & Domestic Tourists can stay at the Hotels, Motels and Guesthouses surrounding the CBD with tours available for visitors.

The multitude of Displays include: Cultural - 10 scores of SingSing Groups from around the country - from Highland to Coastal Groups; Agricultural - all various types of organic farm produce from all nine Districts of Morobe, the infamous PNG coffees of Arabica, Robust and others, and a huge collection of PNG orchids display; Livestock & Fisheries - stockmen games; Educational - School Displays and Parades, Rainforest Habitat, Botanical Gardens, Village Development Trust (VDT); Health - programs such as Organic Nutrition, Malaria, HIVAIDS and TB; as well as major support by the Commercial Division - Mining, Manufacturing, Distribution Companies. 

It is an event not to be missed with SingSing Groups from all around the country converging each year to win prizes for being the best and most authentic cultural groups. In 2006, there were close to 90 SingSing Groups on Display in th Main Arena on the second day of the Show.

International attractions that have 'graced' our Annual Morobe Show, are parachutists and Trail Bike events - so much loved and awed by our local visitors. The last Highlight of the Show is the spectacular Fireworks Display to round off anoher successful Morobe Show.

The Morobe Show has been operating for over 54 years with no sign of diminishing in importance to the community of Lae. In fact it keeps gradually growing each year to accommodate more and more SingSing Groups and other international attractions.

We hope you will visit the Morobe Show Website for more information to come and revel in a once a year Spectacular that is Our Morobe Show!

Morobe Show website:http://www.morobeshow.org.pg/
 

The National Day is celebrated on the 16th September every year. The day is always celebrated with official engagements by the Provincial Government as well as Business delegates at the St. Ignatius Kilage Stadium.

On parade also are students, Police Constabulary, and the PNG Defence Force, as well as PNG Locals in their colourful traditional dress for SingSings throughout the Day.

At day's end the night sky is lit up with spectacular fire works to welcome another year of Independence for all to enjoy at the St. Ignatius Kilage Stadium.

Throughout the week towards the Independence Day Anniversary, students of every school are encouraged to come to school on a designated day in traditional dress. Being such a multi-cultural society in Lae, PNG children come dressed in grass-skirts and feathers, while Indian children come dressed in their saris, and Indonesians, Chinese, and Filipinos to name a few, also in their traditional dress.

Unitech Cultural Show
The Unitech Cultural Show is held on the Showgrounds within the confines of the University of Technology, which is located at Taraka, a satellite town of Lae City.

The traditional SingSing participants are the students who come from all over 20 Provinces around the country is Show is also held bi-annually. Dates for this is yet to be confirmed.

QE II Visits
The famous QE 2 visited the shores of Lae, Morobe province three times - 1991, 2000 and 2004. Whenever a Cruise Ship Liner visits the Port of Lae, the whole city swings into action.

The Morobe Tourism Bureau and other resource owners actively plan the logistics and displays to accommodate the international tourists.

As part of their tourism faculty training, Lae Technical College students assisted other members of the community with the full day tour.

The Lae Botanical Gardens was used to display the traditional cultural events for the off-shore guests. These guests were also treated to a visit to the Rainforest Habitat as part of their tour.

Seabourne Spirit Visit
The Seabourne Spirit visited Lae in 2004 also.

MS Statendam Visit
MS Statendam, a 5 star Holland America Liner, visited the shores of Lae in March 2006 for a full day tour.

The 600 off-shore guests were treated to a show of traditional culture, SingSing, and arts & crafts at the Lae Botanical Gardens.

There were traditional weavers, carvers, sago makers, and several other craft on display. Lae Technical College students were also part of the tour guides on many buses hired to escort the tourists.

Tours were also arranged for guests to visit the Rainforest Habitat as well as the Lae War Cemetery. The Morobe Tourism Bureau organised the off shore visits for the MS Statendam guests.

Unlike the Morobe Show, the Biang Ngayam Festival is a bi-annual event, organised by the Sports, Culture & Tourism Division of Morobe Provincial Government, that is specifically a display of traditions & cultures of the nine Districts of Morobe Province only.

With this large province spanning from the mountains to the sea, some of these remote villages were eager to participate to show they belong.

This event was held in the 2nd week of May, 2006, and was very well attended by the whole of the Morobean people.

The traditional SingSing Groups which also included many children in traditional clothing and theatre groups were there to display their unseen finery & regalia in their costumes, shells, grassed skirts, beads, earth paints, feathers and tapacloths.

The rhythmic songs played with kundu drums, bamboo panpipes & percussion instruments, shell castanets had the dancers and sightseers rocking to the rythym & the beat.

Their traditional dances depicted the instincts of the Birds of Paradise, the eaglehawks, and other mythical creatures, as well as never-before-seen initiation ceremonial dances which were danced only in their remote villages in the jungles of Morobe.

The most popular of these events is the family of Snake Charmers of Bukawa area. Local visitors wait in awe for this event to take place and they are never disappointed by the art of handling these reptiles. A sight not to be missed by all travellers - the Land of the Unexpected!

The Biang Ngayam Festival also included a Morobean Queen Judging Event, where each District had their own Princess. The judging was held on the shoreline of a large pond, called the Raun Wara, situated near the Botanical Gardens. The crowned Queen was then paraded in a large canoe with the surrounds of the Raun Wara as the spectators' podium.

The 2006 Biang Ngayam Festival had 90 SingSing Groups congregated to represent villages from Districts that use to be warring clans. The significance of these groups dancing together in one arena was a sight to behold even for the Morobeans.

There were many unique artifacts on sale for the avid collector. Although some artifacts with lizard skins, bird of paradise feathers, shells and beads, are not permissible for export or import into foreign countries. Please check with Melanesian Arts Centre website for contact and more information.

This Show which is held bi-annually will have dates yet to be confirmed in 2008. Please contact the Morobe Tourism Bureau for more information of the next Biang Ngayam Festival.

 

The festival was well attended by close to 50 SingSing Groups displaying all their traditional finery etc. Invitations to other international cultural groups from around the world were made, however, only one group from Australia was able to attend.

The event also incorporated displays by all the NGOs in the Province, such as Rainforest Habitat, Forest Research Institute, and other organisations to promote Conservation Programs such as the Leatherback Turtle, long beaked Echidna, Fish Farming, etc.

The promotion of Lae as a tourism destination for gamefishing was lauded by the internationally acclaimed fishing magazine “Blue Water Magazine” of “New Guinea’s spectacular potential”.

As told by Mr. Peter Pakula, the journalist who wrote the article, “in the history of this magazine, there has never been a time where an eight (8) paged spread was written about a fishing destination” – the 2006 PNG National Gamefishing Title in Lae achieved that accolade.

It placed Lae on the world map of the sport of gamefishing, fostering the tag & release technique.

Compared to previous National Titles, this event was praised as “the best ever” by the PNG Game fishing president, Mr. Rob Odea.

For further information, please contact the Lae Gamefishing Club for more details on the next National Gamefishing Titles in Papua New Guinea.