Happy Gawai Dayaks to all readers, visitors and guest
to Sarawak Travel Guide. Taking this opportunity to record my appreciation and thank
you for the support and readership
Gawai Dayak or Pesta Gawai or Onu Gawai is being
celebrated by the Dayaks community in SarawaK, East Malaysia in the first week of June every year. The Bidayuh, Iban
and also the Orang Ulu had their own rituals and traditional ways in
celebrating this event which marked the end of the rice harvesting season and
the ushering in another year of bountiful harvest and goodness.
It is the time for merry making and gathering of family
members from far and wide. Those working outside Sarawak always make the effort
to be home with their parents, relatives and friends in the villages and
longhouses.
There are variety of delicacies and menu to choose, from
traditional cuisine to modern one. Some of them are chicken cook in bamboo,
glutinous rice in bamboo and many more; each community has their own
speciality.
It also the time of sharing as friends and stranger are
invited to share in the celebration. This promotes unity and friendship among
the various communities in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Various programs are held to make the celebration
merrier and colourful, like beauty contest in traditional outfit like Kumang
Gawai for the Iban community, Dayung Sikora for the Bidayuh, while the Orang
Ulu community has their own Traditional Costume Beauty Contest. It is a feast for the eyes with the colourful rituals, traditional music and costume and variety choice of traditional cuisine and wine.
The official Gawai Dayaks Celebration in Sarawak is 1st.
June, every year but the celebration in the longhouse and the villages are held
at different day and some last for a month.
HAPPY GAWAI DAYAKS TO ALL....
