In Papua New Guinea’s Enga Province, plans are underway for a major peace and reconciliation festival to heal divisions caused by recent tribal unrest. The Lagaip Sangai Festival, scheduled for August 1-2, 2025 at the Wanepap Catholic Mission, is being revived as a community-led peacebuilding initiative. Sangai, in the Engan language, means “to gather in peace and ceremony.” The traditional gathering lapsed for decades in the past due to colonialism and other factors.
This year, church leaders, clans, and students are uniting for the sixth official resurrection of the festival, Radio Veritas Asia reported. Divided clans from the Lagaip Valley have agreed to set aside grievances and participate side by side in cultural performances.
The two-day event will blend tribal customs and the Catholic faith as a means of healing. Highlights will include ritual pig-killings shared in communal feasts (an ancient gesture of peace), traditional sing-sing dances and chants by groups in full ancestral attire, and even a special integrative church service combining Catholic liturgy with local traditions.
Workshops for youth on traditional crafts and oral history are also planned to reconnect younger generations with their heritage. A Grade 9 student named Ambai Sundi told RVAsia, “…but when I wear bilas (traditional adornment) and dance, I feel my ancestors with me. Sangai teaches us who we are.”
There will be a ‘storytellers’ circle’ held under a mango tree, where elders will tell children and visitors stories about the Lagaip Valley.
Lagaip Sangai Festival Chairman Tony Sulupin noted that Sangai plays an important role in the lives of young people. He told FM100 that historically, Sangai guided young Engans to live fulfilling lives, helping them to gain skills to help them grapple with challenges.
But it will remain a challenge to keep the revival of Sangai traditions going. “Regretably Sangai together with many cultures and traditions of Enga have been discontinued due to globalization which have had radical influences on the indigenous villages,” Sulupin said. He added that today, thugs and hooligans are undermining the rule of law.
However, Sulupin continues to have hope for the Sangai festival’s potential to show the younger generation the wisdom that guided society in the past.
Another group that will be recognized at the festival are Engan women. There will be a mother’s sing-sing, as well as a workshop on traditional medicine and sacred feminine knowledge. Meanwhile, Catholic women’s groups will lead sessions on dignity, leadership, and self-worth.
By reviving cultural pride and inter-clan friendships, the community hopes to bring healing and a fresh start. The Enga festival demonstrates how Indigenous practices and spirituality can be harnessed for modern peacebuilding.
In May, Peace News Network (PNN) published an article about how Indigenous peoples could lead the next decade of peacebuilding. A diverse gathering of Indigenous leaders, diplomats, and activists assembled at the United Nations in New York on April 24 to 25, 2025. Over two events at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), participants from dozens of countries issued a ‘clarion call’ for Indigenous-led peacebuilding. To read the full article, click here.
Keywords: Papua New Guinea, PNG, peace, festival, culture, conflict, conflict resolution, tribal conflict, papua
Tara Abhasakun
Tara Abhasakun is Peace News Network (PNN)'s managing editor. She is journalist based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and formerly in Bangkok, Thailand. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara's work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.
