Kutubu festival focuses on courage after the earthquake

By LOUISAH FRANK
THE Kutubu Kundu Digaso Festival committee has announced that this year’s show will be on September 21-23 with the theme Yumi mas kirapim bek yumi yet”.
The theme is derived from communities in Kutubu and their resilience to rise from the devastation of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck their homes, gardens and loved ones in Feb this year.
The organiser for the festival, Saina Jeffrey, said the idea behind the theme is that no matter what happened, communities in Kutubu did not back-down.
Participating in the festival will enable them to earn money for themselves whether it be through making sago or taking part in a singsing group.
“For the communities in the area, seeing the festival come through is an avenue for restoration and to support themselves to become resilient,” Jeffrey said.
Jeffrey said the festival this year will be exciting and she encouraged everyone to join in.
The event will showcase a broad range of traditional and contemporary artistic and cultural expressions, including different singsing groups, Digaso oil extraction demonstration, Kutubu kundu drums demonstration, wildlife display, arts and craft and many more.