The month of September is usually a time of much festivity and celebration throughout PNG. Independence Day, the Kalam Culture Festival in Simbai, and of course the Goroka Show itself, all fall on this month. But the Goroka Show is perhaps the biggest event of them all.
An annual event usually held for two days in the second week of September, the event showcases numerous traditional sing-sing and dance groups from throughout the five highlands provinces as well as the coastal regions - all elaborately and vividly adorned in traditional attire.
One can also find on display (and for sale) various artifacts and other items of art such as armbands, traditional ear-rings, ornaments made from bone, shell money, string bags and of course penis gourds. Other stalls around the grounds sell local food and serve some of the best coffee in the world.
A highlight of the show is the Miss Goroka Show pageant in which young lasses give a little speech at the end of a parade. The contestants may either be dressed in traditional gear, or in garments woven from traditionally extracted fabric. Towards the end of the second day, after much deliberation by a panel of judges, prizes are awarded accordingly.
The sing-sing groups are also awarded prizes (usually a combination of cash and kind) on the last day of the show.
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