Gawai Dayak

Gawai Dayak falls on the first of June and marks the end of the rice harvest for the Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu and other Dayak peoples of Sarawak; it was made a public holiday in 1965 and functions now as both a religious observance and the main homecoming of the year, when people working in Kuching, Miri or the peninsula travel back to their longhouses. The evening of the thirty-first begins with the miring offering ritual and the ngirup ai pengayu toast at midnight, and the following days are open house: visitors move door to door along the longhouse ruai, are given tuak rice wine at each, and eat continuously. There is dancing, the ngajat, gong music, and competitions. Guests are welcomed, and refusing the first drink at a door is understood to be discourteous.

What you actually see

• Open longhouse doors - moving down the ruai from family to family.
• Tuak rice wine - offered at every door and central to the hospitality.
• The miring ritual - the offering that opens the festival on the eve.
• Ngajat and gong music - the dancing and percussion through the nights.

When to go

The first of June and the days either side. Two days.

Honest expectations

Longhouse visits work best with an invitation or through an arranged homestay - do not simply turn up. Drinking is heavy and refusal is awkward. Transport and flights are fully booked around the date.

Nearby

Longhouses near Kuching, Sibu and Kapit are the usual access points.