If you like weird festivals in obscure places then you really cannot beat the Tamatama Festival in Bougainville. Basically it is the Bougainvillean version of a cultural show in the ilk of Mount Hagen.
In fact, it used to be held in the same week as the Mount Hagen Show, until I moved it. YOU’RE WELCOME. This means you can now do Hagen and Tamatama in two swift weeks.
What is it all about though and what is the scran like? Here’s my take on things.
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What the Bougainville?
Bougainville is an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, made up of the main island of Bougainville and a number of smaller islands. It covers around 9,300 square kilometres and has a population of roughly 300,000 people. The capital is Buka, although Arawa remains the largest town and the former capital.
Bougainville has a pretty unique history, having fought a bloody civil war against Papua New Guinea from 1988 to 1998. The resulting peace agreement eventually gave Bougainville autonomy and, in 2019, the people voted on their future. The result was about as decisive as elections get, with 97.7 percent voting for independence.
This means Bougainville could become the world’s newest country, although that has been something people have been saying for about 15 years now. As of writing, the result has finally been tabled in the PNG Parliament, which now has to decide what happens next. Yeah it is very #Complicated.
What is the Tamatama Festival?
The Tamatama Festival is an annual cultural and food festival held in Arawa, with 2026 being its fourth edition. The festival celebrates Bougainvillean culture, food and identity, with sing sings, dancing, arts and crafts, music and, of course, tamatama itself.
Tamatama is a traditional Bougainvillean food made using things such as banana, taro, cassava or sago, which are wrapped in banana leaves and cooked with coconut milk over an open fire. The festival was started to showcase this rather unique local food, but has now grown into a much bigger celebration of Bougainvillean culture.
And to an extent it is also just a bit of a cash grab, or to be more polite a way for Arawa to get in on the tourism trend. If only they could also fix their roads! This though does mean that you get sing sing groups, which are very cool, but you may get sick of bamboo pipes played with a flip-flop by the end.
Eating at the Tamatama Festival
OK, so one of the best things about Arawa and indeed Bougainville is that it is safe. This means that there are no fences and perimeters. Therefore one can just go explore all of the cool pop-up stalls. Many of these, as you imagine, serve some great Bougainville cuisine.
And I am not gonna lie, I pretty much ate all of it. There were a lot of local type stews and rice dishes that I avoided, but there were also some real gems. Top among these was a kebab that cost a few dollars and included chillies, yam and a bunch of meat. Surprisingly spicy for Bougainville cuisine and there were the saveloys. PNG saveloys and, well, saveloys in general I have covered in great detail before, but they are cheap and the bomb! Like 50 cents each, cooked to a crisp and just the perfect local snack.
And to wash it down? Well, a fresh coconut for a dollar! I can confirm these go great with a bit of Paiawara AKA local moonshine! See video……
But we cannot finish talking about food at the Tamatama Festival without talking about Tamatama itself.
Tamatama is basically a kind of traditional Bougainvillean starchy cake made from things such as cassava, banana, taro or sago, mixed with coconut and then wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over an open fire. There are different versions depending on where you are in Bougainville, but the basic idea is the same: starch, coconut and plenty of cooking. In Arawa you can also find tamatama being made and sold in the traditional style, with cassava being grated and prepared with coconut cream.
Overall a bit starchy, but you know what, I really enjoyed it.
How to visit the Tamatama Festival?
I do it every freaking year with YPT! So, if ya like, I can take you there. Bougainville can technically be done by yourself, but in reality you need local help.
Click to see our Bougainville Tours.