Coffee Festival

Every year Goroka has a coffee festival. It is a cross between a trade show and a cultural event. The local businesses all have booths where they advertise and sell their products. Because it is the coffee festival and coffee is big business around here, there is a lot of focus on the coffee industry. You can usually see coffee at every stage, from seedlings to the fully processed bean.

The other part of the Coffee Festival is all the cultural exhibitions. The local groups come dressed in traditional costume and do their traditional songs and dances. You can also buy artifacts such as baskets, wood carvings, paintings, bilums (string bags), etc.

I enjoy the coffee festival more than the other events they have in Goroka because it is more focused on the local people and not on the tourists. This makes it less crowded and more interesting to me. This was my last chance to go before leaving PNG. Matt always takes so many good pictures that it was hard for me to pick just a few to post.