Festivals Division

This Division came into existence when the functional structure of the Commission was approved by the Department of Personnel Management in 1999. This Division is responsible for co-ordinating and facilitating cultural activities, especially in the area of Marketing, promotions, Festivals and Cultural Extension Services.

National Festivals
Two of the functions of the National Cultural Commission is to promote and develop cultural festivals that are unique in this country.
The NCC has developed annual programmes of these cultural festivals in the different regions of our country where most of these cultural activities are centered.

Dates      Events 
25th -27th April       Gogodala Festival Balimo Western Province 
12th-13th June   Mini Mask Festival Toare Village, Gulf Province
11th-14th July 13th National Mask Festival Rabaul, ENBP
31st-01st September National Garamut Na Mambu Festival Wewak ESP
14th-16th September National Bilasim Skin Festival Goroka, EHP 
26th-28th October 3rd National Arts & Crafts Exhibition, Port Moresby NCD
02nd-03rd November    National Canoe Festival, Alotau Milne Bay Province 

********************************************************************************************
Registered Cultural Groups

Over the last 120 years of sustained contact with the outside world, many groups and individuals have nurtured and maintained traditional cultural activities.

The National Cultural Commission acknowledges these individuals and groups for their effort as they mostly did this without assistance and guidance from the Government. These groups and individuals are undergoing tremendous change and face the danger of losing much of their authenticity. This tremendous pace of change is very evident in some factors such as performances and costumes.

This has been caused by the influx of cultures from outside the country and also the intermingling of neighbouring Pacific Island countries and of different cultural groups within the country itself. These changes within our traditional cultural group can be called contemporary culture.

The National Cultural Commission recognises that the developing contemporary culture is important for the now developing Papua New Guinea identity. While pre-contact Papua New Guinea culture was a fragmentation of hundreds of different cultures, contemporary culture is now Papua New Guinean. The National Cultural Commission among its many functions is responsible for the development and maintenance of culture in Papua New Guinea . This includes the performing aspects of culture; such as dances, music and other types of performances.

In line with the above, for about nine years now we have been registering cultural performing groups from all over the country. To date we have a total of more than 500 cultural groups from around the four regions of the country that are registered with us. The NCC encourages arts practitioners throughout the country to register.

Meanwhile, over the years many organisations, both government and non-government, have engaged some of these groups for performances at functions. Audiences have been both from overseas visitors and local people.

Occasions of performances have ranged from small office functions to major international events. With the assistance of the National Cultural Commission, the service provided by our cultural groups has been of immense help to all of us and the image of our country.

The fees that you have paid for performances had been greatly beneficial to the groups.

Since 1993, we have had very little change in fee structure, despite the continuing increase in costs of living over the years. Two years ago, we have decided to institute some changes resulting in changes to the fees structure. This fee structure was effective on the 1st of April, 2001 .

We believe that together with the cultural groups we have provided good valuable service to your organisation and hope that we continue a close working relationship with you for the future.

To register your group with NCC, please contact:
Mr. John Uani,
Acting Director, Festival, Marketing & Cultural Extension Services
National Cultural Commission.

The local fee structure for hire of cultural groups in PNG Kina (K) is as follows:
(i). One cultural group: Group fee K550, NCC Administration fee K50 and Facilitation fee K40. Total: K640.
(ii). Two cultural groups: Group fee K1100, NCC Administration fee K100 and Facilitation fee K40. Total: K1240.
(iii). Three cultural groups: Group fee K1,650, NCC Administration fee K125 and Facilitation fee K40. Total: K1,815.

  REQUEST FORM FOR LOCAL HIRE OF CULTURAL GROUPS