Mount Hagen Festival Tour

What's It All About?

Come and experience the truly remarkable Mt Hagen on our Mount Hagen Festival tour in Papua New Guinea!

The tour will be taking full advantage of the festival celebrations allowing you to see the traditional Guinean life in all its feathered glory. The Mt. Hagen Show, which goes on over the whole weekend, consists of hundreds of tribes from all over the island showcasing their traditional dress.

Not only will we spectate the show, but we’ll also get opportunities to take part in the daily life in a village. We’ll attend a school’s culture day and stay in a village for a traditional feast. It doesn’t get more real than that!

During the tour, we will start in the capital, Port Moresby where you will meet your guide and fellow travellers over drinks at the yacht club, before heading deep into the interior to one of the most isolated parts of the world. We will visit even more of the highlands provinces by stopping in the seldom visited cities of Goroka and Madang before we catch our flight back to Port Moresby. Other companies will fly you in and out for the festival only, we take you behind the scenes, to the real PNG.

Don’t miss out on this incredible chance to see one of the least explored parts of the world!

Trip Highlights

Village Life

We'll spend a day at a rural village with local families
Mumu Lunch

Traditional PNG way of cooking. Rocks are heated on fire and then thrown into a pit to cook a feast.
Mount Hagen Festival

Two full days at the incredible Mount Hagen Festival.
Behind the Scenes

We'll arrive early enough to the catch the festival preparations. We'll mingle with participants as they paint their faces and prepare costumes!

The Itinerary

Port Moresby – Mount Hagen – Goroka – Madang – Port Moresby.

August 11th - Port Moresby

Own arrival in Port Morseby and transfer to the hotel.
Meet your guide at the hotel in Port Moresby at 4pm. (More details closer to the date)
Head out for a group dinner and some drinks at the yacht club. We will discuss the trip in more detail and it will also give you a chance to get to know your guide and fellow travelers.
Overnight in Port Moresby

August 12th - Mount Hagen

Early morning transfer to the airport to catch our flight to Mt. Hagen.
Upon arrival, we will meet our local guides and transfer to our hotel.
After check-in, we will check out Mt Hagen’s main market and visit the fresh produce market where you can see all kinds of tribal artifacts unique to the New Guinea highlands.
Afterwards we head out into the surrounding mountains for more sightseeing and we will see birds of paradise, highland echidnas and cassowaries if we are lucky.
Head back to Mt Hagen for dinner and overnight.

August 13th - Mount Hagen

We go deep into the highlands to a local village.
The villagers will prepare pig mumu for us. This involves the slaughtering of a pig, which is then prepared and cooked in a hole under hot rocks along with yam and corn. While we wait for it to cook, the villagers will introduce us to different customs and traditional skills such as fire making and archery.
After a massive feast, we will go for a trek to the nearby waterfall where we can swim and enjoy the cold water.
Head back to Mt. Hagen for dinner at the Kaibar, a local hole in the wall restaurant.
Overnight in Mt Hagen.

August 14th - Mount Hagen

After breakfast we will drive out to the Luglamp community.
We’ll mingle with villagers of this community at their school’s cultural day. It is like a mini-Mount Hagen festival organized by students and teachers. Contrary to the Mount Hagen Festival, we will definitely be the only foreigners in sight!
Drive back to Mt. Hagen.
Lunch.
Visit to a local coffee plantation and factory. Mount Hagen is renowned for the quality of the beans they produce.
We head back to the city for dinner at the Highlander Hotel.
Overnight.

August 15th - Mount Hagen

Today is the big festival day! We head to the local rugby which will host the Mount Hagen festival. We get there early enough to witness the participants dressing up and preparing their costumes.
We can partake in some traditional games and slap on the face paint (extra charge)
After the show we will head back to the hotel for dinner.
Overnight in Mt Hagen.

August 16th - Mount Hagen

Another day at the show with more dancing, mingling and amazing photo opportunities.
Night out in Mt Hagen to celebrate the end of the festival.
Overnight in Mt Hagen.

August 17th - Goroka

We leave Mount Hagen to see more of the highlands region.
We will stop for lunch in the city of Goroka. This is the site of another big festival in Papua New Guinea.
We stop by the J.K McCarthy Museum in the city which is made up of several rooms showcasing everything from WWII relics and traditional PNG objects.
Overnight in Goroka.

August 18th - Madang

After a short stay in Goroka, we head to the beautiful coastal town of Madang.
We arrive in Madang around noon for lunch in a local restaurant.
We go on a city tour of Madang including a stop and walk along the coast.
Overnight.

August 19th - Port Moresby

We take the early Air Niugini flight at 7:00 am from Madang to Port Moresby landing at 8am.
End of the Mount Hagen Festival tour.

Where am I going?

Map
Inclusions
Exclusions

Hotels

Hostel accommodation in twin share.
Entrance fees

All entrance fees (unless otherwise stated) including the Mount Hagen festival ticket.
Guides

Both an expert local guide and english speaking tour leader.
Transport

All transport in country to complete the itinerary.
Domestic flights

Both domestic flights included.

International Fights

Flights to and from Port Moresby.
Some Meals

Most meals are not included.
Visa Fee

Visa & visa fees.
Tips

Tip are encouraged for your local guides.