Kenu festival to be bigger

 THE national Kenu and Kundu Festival to be held in Milne Bay in November will be bigger and better, organisers say.

The festival will also be celebrating its 10th anniversary, according to chairman of the organising committee Peter Tarumuri.

He will be leaving this year after five years at the forefront of preparations for the festival.

The annual festival showcases the traditional canoe and kundu (traditional drum) culture of PNG.

National Planning and Implementation Minister and Alotau MP Charles Abel said tourists who wanted to come to PNG could book their holidays around that date each year because it was staged at the same time each year. 

Tarumuri succeeded the late John Wills Kaniku, the founding chairman, in 2009. 

Major sponsor Bank South Pacific branch manager Ben Umba said the bank was proud to support an event that revived and kept alive the country’s culture.

The festival will be staged on November 1 to 4 and coincides with the maiden voyage of a P&O cruise ship bringing more than 2,000 tourists to Alotau. 

A corporate dinner in Port Moresby will be held in July to raise funds for the festival.

Details of this can be obtained from the Events Coordinator Elphys Auboti on 641 1503 or via email [email protected]