The colourful West New Britain Festival returns

The second annual Oil Palm Festival of Arts & Culture was celebrated over three days in June.

An estimated 1000 visitors flocked to the Sir John Maneke stadium at Hoskins Station, about a 40-minute drive from Kimbe, to attend the festival, which had the theme ‘Celebrating Oil Palm, Culture & Sustainable Livelihood.’

West New Britain is famous for its vast oil palm plantations, which cover about 90,000 hectares across the province. Generations of families have relied on oil palm as a source of income, and since the 1960s companies like New Britain Palm Oil and Hargy Oil Palms Limited have relied on local support for oil palm to be grown on their land.

The show was put together to celebrate this important relationship and the many different cultures that are alive in the province.

It brings together both Highlands and Islands cultures, due to the diverse communities involved in the oil palm industry. This blend is what makes the festival truly special.

David Mundawi of the West New Britain Provincial Administration, and the ex-officio director of the event, said the show includes traditional dances from all over Papua New Guinea, mask dances from different tribes of the host province, as well as contemporary string bands.

If you would like to attend next year’s festival, scheduled for June, contact Kimbe Expedition Tours. Apart from organised tours to the festival, the tour company has a special package that includes Air Niugini flights, accommodation, as well as activities such as snorkelling and dolphin-watching. Liamo Reef Resort will also be conducting tours.

This article was first published in the August-October 2026 issue of Paradise, the in-flight magazine of Air Niugini.