A highlands tribesman makes his way to the showground for day two of the Goroka Show
The chieftain of one the tribes gets his make-up and headdress done by an assistant
Sing-sing group members help fix each others costumes before marching to the showground
An elaborate headdress, especially those from Eastern Highland tribes can be heavily adorned by the feathers of a number of exotic birds, including those of the world-famous bird-of-paradise
This tribe starts to do warm-ups and practices their moves
Tribe by tribe, the sing-sing groups started to move towards the showground
The costumes and body paint distinguishes the tribe or area from the which the group belong but the sheer number of groups made it impossible to capture this information
An all men group heats up the beat with their kundu drums
Most highland groups originally came from hunter-gatherer tribes
The Sili Muli Women from Enga and their synchronized moves with the kundu drums
This group showcases basic fire-making as the gist of their performance
Sing-sing bands and groups have evolved from the performances of most tribes. This group uses a combination of wooden instruments.
The melodious voices of these kids blend perfectly with the traditional instruments being played by the adults
Another group of women uses bamboo instruments
This yellow-themed group also uses bamboo as musical instrument
It was almost impossible to get good photos of the groups as they perform their sing-sing without catching the throng of other photographers in the resulting photos
As if part of the whole choreography, a tourist in the background shows her photos to tribesmen as another group performs in the foreground
A small group of women among the many other groups wanting to be noticed
In general, show participants are all too willing to be photographed
Some tribesmen purposely leave their groups to pose for eager tourists although most of them may request for money to cover their food or refreshment
By mid-afternoon, as the crowd starts to thin out, group photos were getting a lot better
The groups, especially the women, were obviously exhausted but just took short breaks then went back to their sing-sing again
A “bushman” and his group catches their breath while watching other groups perform
This unique group, the Sili Muli Women from Enga Province, also takes a break from going back to their drum and dance routine
A tribesman hollers to his groupmates to signal the start of their sing-sing routine
