Gawai Dayak

Name: Gawai Dayak
Start: 2025-06-01
End: 2025-05-31
Location: Sarawak

Sarawak’s Harvest and Homecoming Festival of Joy

2025/06/01 - 2025/05/31

Every June 1st and 2nd, the longhouses of Sarawak, Malaysia, come alive with laughter, music, and the aroma of rice wine as the Dayak people celebrate Gawai Dayak. This festival marks the end of the rice harvest and the start of a new agricultural season, bringing together families, friends, and visitors for a time of dance, feasting, and heartfelt thanksgiving. For culture lovers, foodies, and adventurous travelers, Gawai Dayak is a unique opportunity to experience the warmth and living traditions of Borneo with all your senses.

Gawai Dayak is celebrated throughout Sarawak, but the most authentic festivities are found in rural longhouses. Here, everyone is welcomed, and the celebrations are filled with traditional music, ngajat (Dayak dance), and endless toasts of homemade rice wine, tuak. It’s a festival where generations and cultures come together, and everyone becomes family.

Main Attractions

Rituals, Midnight Toasts, and Longhouse Feasting

The festival begins on the evening of May 31 with the Muai Antu Rua ritual, where families cast out bad luck by throwing unwanted items from the longhouse. At night, the tuai rumah (longhouse chief) leads the miring ceremony, giving thanks for the harvest and praying for health and prosperity, sometimes with a chicken sacrifice. At midnight, the sound of gongs signals a communal toast with tuak, wishing “long life, health, and prosperity” (gayu-guru, gerai-nyamai) for all.

After midnight, the real party begins. The longhouse fills with the sound of gongs and traditional instruments, ngajat dance competitions, poetry readings, games, cockfights, and blowpipe demonstrations. Longhouses are open to all, and visitors are always greeted with a glass of tuak. In cities like Kuching, you’ll also find parades, beauty pageants, and cultural shows, but the true heart of Gawai is always in the longhouse feasts and gatherings.

Traditional Costumes and Decorations

Gawai Dayak is a feast for the eyes. Iban men wear feathered headgear and beaded sashes, while women don handwoven skirts and corsets adorned with coins and beads, along with elaborate jewelry. Each Dayak group, from Bidayuh to Kayan, displays its own distinctive attire and decorations, showcasing both diversity and pride. Longhouses are decorated with bamboo, banners, and flowers, and every room is filled with smiles, music, and the scent of home-cooked food.

Traditional Food and Rice Wine

The Gawai table is a treasure trove of delicacies. Pansoh (meat steamed in bamboo), glutinous rice cooked in bamboo (ngelulun pulut), and coconut milk rice cakes (penanan) are just some of the highlights. Kuih sepit and sarang semut are popular sweets, and above all, homemade rice wine, tuak, is essential. Every guest is welcomed with a glass of tuak, and sharing food is a way to honor both ancestors and visitors.

Cultural and Historical Background

The roots of Gawai Dayak lie in the ancient agricultural rituals of Sarawak’s indigenous peoples. Each tribe once had its own harvest festival, but in 1957, Dayak leaders proposed unifying them as “Gawai Dayak” to foster unity and preserve their culture. In 1965, it became an official public holiday in Sarawak, symbolizing hope, solidarity, and Dayak pride.

Today, Gawai is not only a time to give thanks for the harvest, but also to reconcile, renew friendships, honor elders, and look forward to the future. It is a living tradition that reaffirms Dayak identity and connects past and future. Many families return home for Gawai, making it a season for weddings and reunions as well.

Participant Voices

As a first-time visitor from Kuala Lumpur, I was welcomed like family. I learned to dance the ngajat, tasted tuak, and listened to elders’ stories late into the night. I was deeply moved by Sarawak’s culture and the warmth of its people.

Fun Facts

Gawai Dayak was first officially celebrated on June 1, 1965, and is now a public holiday in Sarawak.
Tuak (rice wine) is brewed weeks in advance and is central to the festivities.
Visitors are always greeted with a glass of tuak-so be ready to toast!

Festival Dates

Gawai Dayak is celebrated annually on June 1–2, centered around longhouses throughout Sarawak. For the most authentic experience, visit a rural open house-you’ll be welcomed as family.