Western Highlands

Papua New Guinea

At the annual Sing Sing. The head dresses are made "on the day" composed of feathers from local birds. Each tribe paints their face with a distinctive design. Jewellery is local shells and nuts.
Imagine trying to put on your makeup with such a tiny mirror! The annual Sing-Sing in Mt. Hagen attracts 50-100 tribes from the highlands. They arrive early morning and spend a couple hours putting on makeup, creating their head dresses (from stratch, on the day), and gladly posing for pictures before the show starts in the afternoon. Upon entering the Sing-Sing, they will play drums, chant their tribes songs and parade around the grounds. The intricate head dresses, tribal jewellery and colorful costumes show how talented they really are. The Sing-Sing is usually every August. Tickets and hotel accommodation well in advance. If you are travelling to PNG this is a must!
Fly to Mt. Hagen from Port Moresby and enjoy the annual Sing-Sing. With over 800 tribes in the country, you will see fifty to one hundred tribes show up for this colorful display of song and dance. Book your tickets early.
The mud men at the annual Sing-Sing in Mt. Hagen. You can get up close with your camera!
Mount Hagen, Sing Sing After travelling to over 50 countries in the last few years, there has been nothing that has had an impact on me as much as the Mount Hagen Sing Sing in Papua New Guinea. Every year, 50 to 100 different tribes arrive early in the morning to an open field. There, they don their face paint, beads, shell necklaces, grass skirts, and drums. Most importantly they construct their elaborate headdresses on site. For example, the Simbu Traditional headdress is one of the most colorful traditional headdreses in the Highland Region. The front feathers are from the red parrot feathers. The green ones in the middle are from green parrots feathers and on the top are the Stephanie’s Astrapia Bird of Paradise feathers. When all these feathers are put into place they are tightened by a headband made of bamboo or bush veins and decorated by cuscus fur or sometimes cassowary feathers. In Simbu tradition the Headdress plays a virtual role of identifying the status of a dancer in the society. The wealthy family is the one with more feathers and has the attractive headdress decorations. At noon, they enter the parade grounds. They beat their drums, chant, sing and march around the open field. Visitors are allowed to get “up and personal” and take as many photos as they wish. You’ll often see people lying on the ground to get a good shot of the headdress, only because they are often 3 ft. tall. It’s an amazing site! #FindingtheUniverse

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Cultural tribe at Mount Hagen festival Papua New Guinea
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