Gawai festival overnight package

Gawai Festival overnight tour package.

Sumbiling Eco Village in support of Brunei Tourism KNK program is promoting local tourism within Brunei.

As 1st of June is Iban community  New year Harvest Festival celebration called  "Hari Gawai". It is a big tourism event both in Sarawak & Sabah. In Sabah they called it "Pesta Kaamatan", Sarawak they called it "Hari Gawai", here why called it "Gawai Festival" in English.

Since this is the first event promoted by Sumbiling Eco Village-- we called it "1st Gawai Festival 2009". Get the ball rolling, more will come in future.

Many program has been lined up for this event. Bamboo Rice, bamboo chicken, variety of local Traditional vegetable, traditional game like blowpipe skill display, local handicraft like basket,headgear,parang, medicinal herbs& stick and many more.

basic program for visitor who take package overnight Gawai Festival tour.

31st may 2009

1.30pm Meet Sumbiling Eco Village representative at Kianggeh Jetty.

2.00pm Depart by boat. A 45 minutes scenic boat ride winding through beautiful riverine lined with mangrove forest to Bangar, Temburong.

2.45pm Arrived at Bangar, 15minutes time for you to explore Bangar Town, shopping for titbit or visit the restroom

3.00pm Depart by Van or minibus to Sumbiling Eco Village. A 20 minutes on countryside road with scenery of Temburong.

3.30pm Arrive at Sumbiling Eco Village, register & check in to your private tent. Relax & enjoy an enjoy an afternoon tea/coffee with local delicacy.

4.30pm Afternoon activities, swimming, fishing, read your favourite book or take a nap in this quiet peaceful environment

6.30pm BBQ dinner

8.30pm Campfire activities, games, sing along.

10:00pm Depart for night walk to Longhouse.

10:30pm Arrive at longhouse and join them to welcome the new year. Many traditional dance activities, food & local delicacy. One of the ceremony called "Muai Antu Rua"( to cast away the spirit of greet) will be perform 

12.00midnight Headman will hit the gong to mark the new year and all will greet each other good health,

12.00midnight  At midnight, the gong is beaten to call the celebrants to attention. The longhouse Chief (tuai rumah) or Festival Chief will lead everyone to drink the Ai Pengayu (normally tuak for long life) and at the same time wish each other "gayu-guru, gerai-nyamai" (long life, health and prosperity). The celebration now turns merrier and less formal. 

After that back to Sumbiling Eco Village for overnight.

1st June 2009.

Wake up with the sweet chirping of resident birds. Today is a relax day as last night late night at Longhouse. For those still energetic, they can go for a jungle trek to learn about the rainforest and do river tubing down the Motong River. Those who wake up late can also go for a Longboat Joy ride organise by the villager.

12:00 noon   Traditional Lunch consist of Bamboo Chicken,local vegetable, fish and etc. After lunch visit Longhouse and join them for more celebration.

3.00pm Depart for Bangar by Van or Minibus  and continue onward by boat back to Bandar Seri Begawan with fond memories of Iban Gawai festival. End.

Special 1st Time rate: B$60/head. include all return ltransportation from Bangar/SEV, all meals,longhouse celebration,overnight at Sumbiling Eco Village, Temuai joy ride,jungle trekking, river tubing and other activities. 

Exclude personal toiletries,  

A life time opportunity for this first ever event, be the pioneer, book a space now for overnight.

Please contact Hasa Incentives for reservation tel +673-8766796 / email: info@borneoguide.com / fax: +6732425733

Hari Gawai festival

Gawai Day or Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated in Sarawak on 1 June every year. It is both a religious and social occasion. The word Gawaimeans a ritual or festival whereas Dayak is a collective name for the native ethnic groups of Sarawak: Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, andLun Bawang among others. Thus, Gawai Dayak literally means "Dayak Festival". Dayak would visit their friends and relatives on this day. Such visit is more commonly known as "ngabang" in the Iban language. Those too far away to visit would receive greeting cards.

It started back in 1957 in a radio forum held by Mr Ian Kingsley, a radio programme organiser. This generated a lot of interest among the Dayak community.

The mode of celebration varies from place to place. Preparation starts early. Tuak (rice wine) is brewed (at least one month before the celebration) and traditional delicacies like penganan (cakes from rice flour, sugar and coconut milk) are prepared. As the big day approaches, everyone will be busy with general cleaning and preparing food and cakes. On Gawai Eve, glutinous rice is steamed in bamboo (ngelulun pulut). In the longhouse, new mats will be laid out on the ruai (an open gallery which runs through the entire length of the longhouse). The walls of most bilik (rooms) and theruai are decorated with Pua Kumbu (traditional blankets). A visit to clean the graveyard is also conducted and offerings offered to the dead. After the visit it is important to bathe before entering the longhouse to ward off bad luck.

The celebration starts on the evening of 31 May. In most Iban longhouses, it starts with a ceremony called Muai Antu Rua (to cast away the spirit of greed), signifying the non-interference of the spirit of bad luck in the celebration. Two children or men each dragging a chapan (winnowing basket) will pass each family's room. Every family will throw some unwanted article into the basket. The unwanted articles will be tossed to the ground from the end of the longhouse for the spirit of bad luck.

Around 6 pm or as the sun sets, miring (offering ceremony) will take place. Before the ceremony, gendang rayah (ritual music) is performed. The Feast Chief thanks the gods for the good harvest, and asks for guidance, blessings and long life as he waves a cockerel over the offerings. He then sacrifices the cockerel and a little blood is used together with the offerings.

Once the offering ceremony is done, dinner is then served at the ruai. Just before midnight, a procession up and down the ruai seven times called Ngalu Petara (welcoming the spirit gods) is performed. During this procession, a beauty pageant to choose the festival's queen and king (Kumang & Keling Gawai) is sometimes conducted. Meanwhile, drinks, traditional cakes and delicacies are served.

At midnight, the gong is beaten to call the celebrants to attention. The longhouse Chief (tuai rumah) or Festival Chief will lead everyone to drink the Ai Pengayu (normally tuak for long life) and at the same time wish each other "gayu-guru, gerai-nyamai" (long life, health and prosperity). The celebration now turns merrier and less formal. Some will dance to the traditional music played, others will sing the pantun (poems). In urban areas, Dayaks will organise gatherings at community centres or restaurants to celebrate the evening.

Other activities that may follow the next few days include: cock-fighting matches, and blowpipe and ngajat competitions. On this day, 1 June, homes of the Dayaks are opened to visitors and guests.

Traditionally, when guests arrive at a longhouse, they are given the ai tiki as a welcome. From time to time, guests are served tuak. This would be called nyibur temuai which literally means "watering of guests".

Christian Dayaks normally attend a church mass service to thank God for the good harvest.

Gawai Dayak celebrations may last for several days. It is also during this time of year that many Dayak weddings take place, as it is one of the rare occasions when all the members of the community return home to their ancestral longhouse.

Up till 1962, the British colonial government refused to recognise Dayak Day. Gawai Dayak was formally gazetted on 25 September 1964 as a public holiday in place of Sarawak Day. It was first celebrated on 1 June 1965 and became a symbol of unity, aspiration and hope for the Dayak community. Today, it is an integral part of Dayak social life. It is a thanksgiving day marking good harvest and a time to plan for the new farming season or activities ahead.--- wikipedia

Special tour packages available

2days1night full board at Sumbiling eco Village at B$150/pax ( Valid between 30th may to 15 June 2009