We had just finished our first time ever night of Pesta Gawai and Kaamatan. Months of preparations; organizing and practice come to this night in full gear to offer what we have to make it succeed.
A quick recap here on the celebration of Pesta Kaamatan and Gawai.
Kaamatan is a
harvest festival celebrated by different ethnic groups especially among the Kadazan-Dusun community in Sabah. It
lasts for the whole month of May where different ritual stages are held to
commemorate the spirit of the harvest and all leading up to the
climax of the festival on 30th or 31st May. The peak of
the celebration is often accompanied with Sugandoi
(singing/karaoke contest), Unduk Ngadau
(harvest festival queen), traditional sports, multi-ethnic cultural shows and
carnival with an array of local food at the Kadazan
Dusun Cultural Association Hall or KDCA.
Similar to Kaamatan,
Hari Gawai is also celebrated to mark
the end of the harvesting season which falls on 1st and 2nd
June each year particularly by the Dayak people
in Sarawak normally at longhouses. Celebration begins on the evening of May 31st
with also different stages of ceremonial rites performed and ends with a merrier gatherings. The celebration
may last for several days and activities included dances to the traditional
music, cock-fighting matches, blowpipe and ngajat competition and also beauty
pageant to choose the festival’s queen and king or also called Kumang & Keling Gawai.
The Gabungan Anak Borneo team.
So our very own Pesta Gawai and Kaamatan held on the 1st of May at Creative Ballroom, Butterworth, Penang.
We have opening performances in dances and acoustic singing. The first special performance were neither from Sabah or Sarawak but from Indonesia. Since we had lots of Indonesian friends in Penang, we thought it was a good idea to showcase the traditional Batak dance from Sumatra, since they are also included in the third largest island in the world which is Borneo. Batak is an ethnic group predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
Some of the dancer who performed the traditional Batak dance.
I wish I had taken photo of each of the performances that day but everyone were busy making sure the event were on track that not even one of us remember to take photo! Or maybe, we were simply mesmerised by all the performances or maybe just busy taking selfies...haha..
Between performances, we had lucky draws and our kind sponsors make sure almost everyone get home with a prize or two.
The Magunatip team dancer. Although the Magunatip dance or bamboo dance is from the Murut people from Tenom, all of us wearing different attire from the people of Dusun, Rungus and also Lundayeh of Sabah.
The guys from the Gabungan Anak Borneo team.
Contestant in the Sugandoi (singing/karaoke contest). Song performed in the local dialect of both Sabah and Sarawak. What interesting is we got one contestant who performed Batak song.
Contestant in the best dress competition. Attire worn are from the people of Murut, Rungus, Dusun and Lundayeh.
The winner of the Sugandoi competition.
Winner of the traditional best dress competition. 1st goes to traditional dress from the Murut people. 2nd goes to the Rungus people and 3rd from Dusun.
Overall the event was a success. We were all thrilled and excited to be hosting our first Gawai Kaamatan in Butterworth, Penang.
Till next year!
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