Nature Travel Specialistsnature tours & travel, wildlife tours, adventure travel and general travel to Australia, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, South America and AlaskaFeatured Product of the Week
Rabaul Mask ShowThere
are also less-known traditional events, such as the Rabaul mask festival,
h
|
eld
mid-July on New Britain. The Mask Festival p
resents
a stunning array of ceremonial rites and rituals from a variety of
unique tribal cultures indigenous to the islands of the Bismarck and
North Solomon Seas, including the Trobriands and New Ireland. The
festival was introduced nine years ago to promote the unique mask
cultures of Papua New Guinea. Masks of the Melanesian islands, called
Tumbuan, represent sacred symbols and are connected to ancestral spirits.
Each culture displays its own mask symbolism, thus making this a spectacular
event to witness. The opening ceremony takes place at dawn where Tolai
in full body masks sail ashore in traditional canoes. This show can
be included in a cruise through the Bismarck Archipelago, giving access
to some of the best dive sites in the world, as well as the opportunity
to explore remote and rarely visited islands.