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Bario Food
Festival
Tourism – Events
26 th - 28 th July
Head to Bario for the annual
Bario & Kelabit Highlands
Food & Cultural Festival for
exotic and traditionally farmed foods,
wild foods, jungle trekking, wild life
watching and traditional games from
26 th - 28 th July 2012.
Themed “Building Our Community”,
this unique community annual
run event that takes place in the
picturesque Kelabit Highlands is not to
be missed. Known as Pesta Nukenen
Bario the festival is in its 7 th year and
was established in 2005 to celebrate
the remarkable food, farming and
forest heritage of the longhouses and
village communities in the Kelabit
highlands.
It was officially launched by His
Excellency, Tun Datuk Patinggi Abang
Muhammad Salahuddin, the Governor
of Sarawak in 2006. Since then, it has
grown each year with visitors coming
from all over the country and overseas.
Just as previous years, an exciting and
fun programme has been prepared
for the festival this year. This includes
a ‘Bario Rice Farm Walk’ where visitors
can learn about rice production with a
½ hour guided walk around a family
owned organic farm followed by a
long house visit.
Visitors can also take part in the ‘Wild
Food Walks’ a three hour walk to
discover some of the common wild
vegetables found on farms, streams
in the forest followed by cooking
demonstrations. The festival site
where the hub of the event takes
place, stalls will be set up displaying
handicrafts, food and fun traditional
games will take place.
On the final day of the festival,
awards will be given for cooking
A three day
celebration of food,
farming and forest
heritage in the
beautiful Heart of
Borneo to be officiated
by Dato Seri Idris
Jala, Minister in
the Prime Minister’s
Department and CEO
of PEMANDU
demonstrations, best stalls and festival
food. The judging for these awards
begins on the first day of the festival.
Bario has a wealth of family owned
homestays, lodges and longhouses
in Bario for visitors to experience the
warm hospitality of the Kelabit people.
During the festival period, guests may
commission a special ‘Pesta Nukenen’
meal at home stays and cafes made
with Bario Rice and seasonal foods.
Those who wish to try long distance
trekking can ask their home stay or
Bario nature council guides about two
to six day treks in the beautiful forest of
the highlands. Routes include: Bario-Pa
Longan [2/3 day return trip] ; Bario - Ba
Kelalan [4-6 day return trip] ; Bario-
Pa Umor-Lembudud [transboundary
FORMADAT walk 4-6 days] ; Bario-Pa
Longan-Long Bawan-Lembudud-Pa
Umor [transboundary FORMADAT walk
7-9 days]. Shorter excursions to Pa
Mada, Pa Dalih and other community
settlements and longhouses in the
Central Kelapang area can also be
arranged in Bario.
According to Lord Medway, Jason
Gathorne-Hardy, who has been Patron
of the festival on voluntary basis since
the 3 rd year, the festival became more
established after linking up the Kelabit
Community with a similar festival called
the Alde Valley of Suffolk in 2005. “I
set up a project in the UK celebrating
local foods, farming arts and landscape
heritage in the Alde Valley area of
Suffolk in 2005. So on my first visit to
Bario, I saw the potential of Bario Food
Festival”.
He stressed that it was first and
foremost a community event,
promoting community values and
community knowledge. Secondly, it
is designed to celebrate the cultural
heritage of foods, farms and forests
in the Kelabit highlands and promote
Sarawak as a destination for cultural
tourism.
Previous Chairman of the festival for
two years in a row, Datin Sri Mariam
Balan is a firm believer in keeping the
rich cultural heritage of the Kelabit
remains intact and crucial despite the
arums of modern world reaching the
highlands. “No doubt, embracing
modernity is very good for our people
but we must ensure our heritage,
traditions, customs and practices of
the community is preserved. Therefore,
Pesta Nukenen is a wonderful way to
showcase and share all this with the
rest of the world”, she said.
This year’s festival Chairman, Esther
Balan-Gala who is taking over from
2011 Chairman Datin Sri Garnette Ridu
said that an exciting programme will
be in store for the festival in addition
to what has been done in previous
years. “We look forward to welcoming
visitors to the festival,” said Esther. She
further added that MASWings flies in
twice daily from Miri.
The local Patron for the Pesta Nukenen
2012 is Gerawat Gala, President of
Rurum Kelabit Sarawak.
Pesta Nukenen Bario is managed
by the Kelabit Highlands
Community with support from
Rurum Kelabit Sarawak (a key
sponsor), E-Bario, The Alde Valley Food
Adventures UK, Herring Bone Design
Ltd, Sarawak Tourism Board, Sarawak
State Government and Ministry of
Tourism Sarawak.
For further information, kindly contact +6019 894 8780 Dara Tigan, +6019 438 1777 Cr John Terawe,
+6019 806 0710 Lilla Raja-Hodder
Apr-Jun2012BorneoTalk | 43