I attended the 50th Goroka show, held over Independence weekend in mid September. There were perhaps 400 Europeans inside the show grounds, a mixture of expatriates and tourists, and several thousand locals. Tens of thousands of locals watched from outside the grounds. Because so many of the local population are outside the cash economy they could not even afford the $NZ2.50 that locals were charged for entry (foreigners paid $NZ50 a day for entry).

Ninety-eight different cultural groups were competing in a range of classes. It was an awesome spectacle – the body art is sophisticated and innumerable birds of paradise had died for this. In addition to feathers; possum and tree kangaroo fur, pig’s tusks, shells and gourds were used to pierce and protect various body parts.

The ‘performances’ struck the outsider as somewhat haphazard and random but we were able wander around and take photographs. The performers were universally friendly and never requested money for photos. At the end of the show there was a bit of stone throwing outside the ground and, as the gates were opened and tens of thousands of locals from outside poured in, it felt like the scene trembled on the edge of disorder – but that was probably just paranoia.