The Karimui Show
Friday, 11th October 2019
Each year Papua New Guinea serves up a swathe of festivals designed to showcase the country’s unique people, traditions and culture.
One of the newest additions to this annual calendar is the Karimui Show in Simbu Province.
Designed to celebrate the natural beauty of the area and its people, the Karimui Show is slated for November, running over three days.
Here’s an insight into what organisers have in store…
The famous snake man of Karimui District with his pet snake who featured at the first Karimui Show in 2018. Image via Karimui Conservation, Agriculture and Cultural Show 2018
A new festival
Now in its second year, the Karimui Conservation, Agriculture and Cultural Show will run from November 20-22.
The event is designed to bring people from the region together and will feature sing-sings to showcase the culture and vibrancy of the region’s tribes and traditions.
The festival is expected to be a spectacle of colour of dance, with highlights including performances from tribes famed for their ornate feathered headdresses and their striking face painting.
Highlights of this year’s show also include a beauty quest, wildlife displays, village tours, and an arts and crafts display, along with an agricultural focus incorporating cane rope walking, and a tree and cash crop exhibition.
Tree crops like coffee, vanilla and cocoa are grown around Karimui Sub District. Farmer’s showcase cocoa during the first Karimui Show last year 2018. Image via Karimui Conservation, Agriculture and Cultural Show 2018
A conservation focus
The Karamui Show isn’t just about culture. Part of its major focus is to highlight the area’s natural wonders and conservation efforts, with the festival part of a major push to have 160,000 ha that surrounds the Simbu region declared a conservation zone.
Last year’s event featured around 160 groups, drawing a large contingent of tourists to the area, and this year’s spectacle is expected to even bigger and better. Each day of last year’s festival saw a focus on the unique themes of conservation, agriculture and culture.
Show co-ordinator Chris Jamie recently told The National Newspaper the event was initiated to promote the huge agricultural potential and the rich culture and biodiversity through conservation and ecotourism initiatives to benefit the remote Karimui people.
Karimui conservation project
Karimui-Nomane is the largest district in Simbu Province. Home to lush valleys, rainforests and rugged mountains, it is a place of incredible natural beauty, diverse flora and fauna, with potential for development in growing crops like coffee, rice, cocoa and vegetables.
Currently, Mt Karimui, which is located on the southern tip of Simbu Province, is proposed as a conservation area.
Initiated in 2009 by the people of Karimui, the aim is to recognise and safeguard the virgin tropical rain forests, and rare species of plants and animals that are found in this remote region, while promoting opportunity through conservation and ecotourism.
Rare coloured Pineapple grown at Karimui Sub District displayed at last year’s show. Image via Karimui Conservation, Agriculture and Cultural Show 2018
About Paga Hill Estate
Paga Hill Estate is a world-class, master-planned estate in the heart of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The waterfront site is the first comprehensively planned multi-use development in Papua New Guinea to be enjoyed by both residents and visitors alike.
The all-inclusive development will include vibrant public spaces and waterfront promenade, luxury hotels, residential apartments, restaurants, retail, commercial space, a Trade, Exhibition & Cultural Centre, restoration of WWII relics, marina precinct and a nearby international cruise liner terminal.
