PNG TPA continues to support Sepik River Crocodile Festival

As many of you will know, the Sepik River Crocodile Festival (SRCF) has grown from its humble beginnings in 2007 to be the only major cultural festival in the Sepik River region providing much need revenue through tourism directly to the local people along the main Sepik River and all its many tributaries.

The Crocodile has for centuries remained an integral part of the lives of the Sepik River people through their many ancient and sacred rituals be it for marriages, deaths, birth of a new born child, seasonal harvests, feasts or scarification of young man to manhood.

As part of supporting the festival, PNG Tourism Promotion Authority will be sponsoring the festival with a total amount of K100,000. This will go towards helping the festival to build up facilities for assisting tourists during their stay and also organizing the festival itself.

The Sepik River Crocodile and Arts Festival is a three-day cultural celebration staged annually in Ambunti, East Sepik Province.

The festival highlights the crocodile and its cultural significance to the communities living along the Sepik River.

The Sepik River is one of the largest rivers in the Asia-Pacific region and is home to some of the world’s largest freshwater and saltwater crocodile populations.

In Sepik culture man and crocodile share a special bond. The Crocodile symbolizes strength, power and manhood. Skin-cutting initiations continue in Sepik River communities where men proudly wear scars cut into their skin during the rite of passage. These scars, resembling the back of a crocodile, run from shoulder to hip.

Crocodiles are significant to the Sepik culture where they have cultural traditions, beliefs and legends based on this ancient animal.

The festival is usually held every first weekend of August. For 2019 'save the date' for August 5th - 7th to experience the culture and beauty of one of Papua New Guinea's fascinating tribal heartlands.