All set for Pesta Nukenen

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All set for Pesta Nukenen

Friday, 02 July 2010 11:46

KUCHING: Day 2 of Pesta Nukenen started with a soft mist rising off the farms and festival site at Bario.

As the light cleared, preparations continued on the site with more materials being brought in from the farms and forests of the northern Kelabit Highlands - mainly from nearby secondary amug forest and kerangas paya forest.

Many of the stalls were being decorated with traditionally woven and folded palm leaves, split giant bamboo and tree bark. As far as possible, plastics were avoided in stall preparation and food presentation.

Utensils, cups, plates and pots are being made from bamboos and local rattans, including the beautiful uwe rabun - a long, smooth ground growing rattan common in the Pa Umor Valley of Singai Debpur.

The first craft items also began to appear. These included a variety of baskets, made by residents in the Highlands, working with traditions passed down over generations.

Members of the local Penan community - twice previous winners of the Pesta Nukenen Festival Stall Award - have arrived with backpacks and bracelets woven from uwe rabun and other thicker rattans, some stained with wood smoke to give two-tone patterns. Other examples of the traditional arts include traditional Kelabit Highland designs including the kalang basket, made by women for planting the seedlings of beras adan, and the bakang or Highland Backpack - a tapering lightweight rattan backpack made and used by men for hunting trips and long distance journeys, found also in the Maligan Highlands and Kerayan valleys.

Day 2 also saw many more foods appearing, including kassam / bua lam fermented wild meat and rice, senape the Highland snack bar [steamed sticky rice wrapped in da’un isip palm leaves], kikid luang rice porridge with fish and ginger, and bamboo steamed rice. Judging started for the Pesta Nukenen Food & Stall Awards, with the winners being announced on Saturday evening.

Refreshments came in the form of cinnamon coffee from Pa Mada, fresh Bario Pineapple juice and cinnamon tea.

A highlight in the middle of the day was the arrival of Pesta Nukenen’s Heart of Borneo FORMADAT guests. It had been hoped that they would arrive on Wednesday, but rain held them up and they camped overnight at Long Bekang, a former longhouse heritage site near the border. The new guests were welcomed at the Kedai Kopi with refreshments, before being registered as guests by the Imigresen office Bario.

“ It is a great honour to receive guests from the Kerayen villages from across the border in the transnational Heart of Borneo area. It was always one of our dreams to link up in this way and promote Heart of Borneo. It connects the remarkable cultural and forest heritage of the communities, with Ba Kelalan and Bario as Gateways in Sarawak.

Community owned sustainable development is a key part of the Heart of Borneo agreement and we hope to promote Bario and the Kelabit Highlands as the “Green” Heart of Borneo, with commitments to the protection of the beautiful valleys, farms and forests for community-based development, celebrating government support for rural entrepreneurship, renewable energy systems, rural ICT access, local cultural knowledge and the beautiful forests of the Sungai Debpur and Sungai Kelapang catchment areas - overlooked by the hills of Pulong Tau National Park.” After the reception for Heart of Borneo Guests, marked by the striking of new tubung bamboo gongs, everyone swung into action to welcome more festival and community guests at the airport: member of Parliament for Lawas, Henry Sum, State assemblyman for Ba’Kelalan, Nelson Balang Rining and Director of Immigration, Datuk Robert Lian Saging, flying in with MAS Wings Rural Air Service. The Highland offices for Polis and Imigresen provided an escort to the Festival site, where the Festival Guests were greeted by JKKK Bario, Festival goers and visitors with a cultural performance and a selection of Kelabit Highland foods.

As Thursday came to an end, still clear-skied, the Festival Site quietened, watched over by representatives of the local community RELA.

As the light went down, activities moved indoors, with tables being laid for this evening’s Community Dinner for today’s Festival Guests from the coast, Kerayan visitors, press and international visitors.

Friday - Day 3 - sees the Grand Opening and full celebration of the community, Heart of Borneo and Highland Foods at the Festival Site with PN 2010’s VIP Guest of Honour, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism and Heritage, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam. A key focus of the day will be PN 2010 Guest of Honour’s Tour of the village food stalls and celebration of Kelabit Highland food and forest heritage, and the unveiling of a new War Memorial in Bario. In Honour of Dr George Chan ‘s Hong Nam’s visit there will be a Community Dinner at Bario Asal longhouse.

Further Pesta Nukenen festivities continue at the Festival Site on Saturday, with a Blow Pipe Competition, judging and singing.

Saturday’s activities are rounded off by the Festival Feast or irau, generously sponsored by Rurum Kelabit Sarawak The Ministry of Tourism & Heritage, bringing together all the guests for PN 2010 for a final get together, with cultural performances, awards and presentations.

Day 5 is a day of Thanksgiving and Friendship on Sunday 4th July - a time for visitors to rest before leaving or embarking on more adventures in the Highland villages and forests - or, we hope, heading down to spend time in Miri and Kuching for the Rainforest World Music Festival.