What's it all about?
Come visit one of the world’s great civilisations as they celebrate the Mount Hagen Festival in style with this once-in-a-lifetime Papua New Guinea tour.
Every August, previously warring tribes come together in peace and friendship to show off their individuality. It’s a spectacle full of colour song and dance.
We’ll kick off the tour in Port Moresby – PNG’s seaside capital city before flying into Mount Hagan and the Central Highlands. Here we’ll visit local villages and schools and take part in a traditional pig mumu feast!
Then comes the trip highlight – 2 full days at the Mount Hagen festival. Plus we make sure to get there early for some behind the scenes access!
That’s not all! On these exclusive Mount Hagen Festival Tours we’ll also journey deeper into the highlands, visiting the towns of Goroka and Lae before flying back to Port Moresby.
Take a look at the itinerary below. Spaces are extremely limited for tours to Papua New Guinea, so sign up today!
Port Moresby – Mount Hagen – Goroka – Lae – Port Moresby
August 15 – 23rd, 2023
PNG has visa on arrival for most nationalities. If you’re not sure if you qualify just ask and we’ll let you know.
Port Moresby – Mount Hagen – Goroka – Lae – Port Moresby.
August 15th - Port Moresby
- Own arrival in the capital Port Moresby and transfer to the hotel.
- Meet your guide at the hotel at 11am. (More details closer to the date)
- Port Moresby tour
- Overnight in Port Moresby
August 16th - Mount Hagen
- Early morning ride to the airport to catch our flight to Mt. Hagen.
- Upon arrival, we will meet our local guides and transfer to the hotel/guesthouse.
- After check-in, we will check out Mt Hagen’s main market where you can see all kinds of tribal artefacts unique to the New Guinea highlands.
- Afterwards we head out into the surrounding mountains and we will see birds of paradise, highland echidnas and cassowaries if we’re lucky.
- Head back to Mt Hagen for dinner and overnight.
August 17th - Mount Hagen
- We go deep into the highlands to a local village.
- The villagers will prepare a pig mumu lunch for us. This involves the slaughtering of a pig, which is then prepared and cooked in a hole under hot rocks. 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 ice cold water.
- Head back to Mt. Hagen for dinner at the Kaibar, a local hole in the wall restaurant.
- Overnight in Mt Hagen.
August 18th - Mount Hagen
- After breakfast we will drive out to the Luglamp community.
- We’ll mingle with villagers of this community at the school’s cultural day. It is like a mini-Mount Hagen festival organised by students and teachers. Contrary to the actual Mount Hagen Festival, we will definitely be the only foreigners in sight!
- Drive back to Mt. Hagen.
- Lunch.
- Visit a local coffee plantation and factory. Mount Hagen is world renowned for the quality of the beans they produce.
- We head back to the city for dinner at the Highlander Hotel.
- Overnight.
August 19th - Mount Hagen
- Today is the big festival day! We head to the local rugby ground which will host the Mount Hagen festival. We get there early enough to witness the participants preparing their costumes.
- We can partake in some traditional games and slap on some face paint (extra charge)
- After the show we will head back to the hotel for dinner.
- Overnight in Mt Hagen.
August 20th- Mount Hagen
- Another day at the show with more dancing, mingling and incredible photo opportunities.
- Night out in Mt Hagen to celebrate the end of the festival.
- Overnight in Mt Hagen.
August 21st - Goroka
- We leave Mount Hagen to see more of the highlands region.
- Lunch along the way at Mt Wilheam Hotel in Simbu Province.
- We’ll meet the Mindima Skeleton Tribes – Ancestors of this tribe were afraid of a monster in a cave, so to attack the monster they disguised themselves as skeletons which apparently worked!
- 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 22nd - Lae
- Drive to the beautiful coastal town of Lae through mountains and dense jungle. It’s also PNG’s most important port.
- This is where some of the fiercest fighting took place between the Australian and Japanese forces during World War II.
- Picnic lunch in the Ramu Valley.
- City tour of Lae including a visit to the WWII cemetery. See the shipwreck of the Myoko Maru & Japanese War Memorial.
- Dinner and overnight in Lae.
August 23rd - Port Moresby
- We take the early Air Niugini flight from Lae to Port Moresby.
- End of tour.
**Due to limited domestic flight availability, especially in this period – Early booking is advised. If booking late then the tour cost is liable to increase in line with the flight prices. **
August 15 - 23rd, 2023
Mount Hagen Festival Tour
Domestic flights included
Start / Finish in Port Moresby
Premium hotel
8 Nights
The price
$3,190 USD
