Goroka

For three days every September, more than 100 highlands tribes descend on the National Sports Institute grounds for the sing-sing — a raw, unscripted display of dance and chant that has nothing to do with performance for an audience and everything to do with identity. Kundu drums set the pace. Bilas, feathers and clay paint do the talking. Nobody’s watching from the sidelines; you’re standing in the middle of it.

The show started as a peacebuilding exercise between highlands clans in the late 1950s. It’s now PNG’s oldest cultural festival and, in 2026, it hits its 70th year — timed, as always, around Independence Day. Seven decades on, it’s still the same premise: dozens of distinct cultures, one field, no filter.

PNG Air flies into Goroka from Port Moresby and connects onward across the highlands network, so getting to the show doesn’t mean sacrificing the rest of your trip. Book early — September fills up fast, and this year more than most.