Gawai Dayak

Origins and recognition

During the rule of the Brooke dynasty and subsequent British administration, Dayak communities marked the harvest according to their own local customs without official government recognition. In the 1950s and 1960s, community leaders and radio broadcasters urged the government to establish a shared holiday. Politician Tra Zehnder championed the cause in the state assembly. The first unofficial gathering took place at Michael Buma's home in 1963. Sarawak formally gazetted the holiday in 1964 under Chief Minister Stephen Kalong Ningkan, and the first official state observance took place on 1 June 1965, creating a unified celebration of Dayak heritage.

Longhouse preparations and crafts

Preparations begin weeks before the holiday with deep cleaning, building repairs, and visiting ancestral graves. Longhouses, the communal wooden residences shared by multiple families, are spruced up and decorated. Residents hang woven ceremonial cloths called Pua Kumbu and paint nature motifs along the gallery walls. Elaborate woven mats made of rattan, reed, or bark are laid out along the communal hallway in a ceremony called beranchau, which officially signals that the longhouse is ready to welcome guests. Carved shields, brass items, and heirloom pieces are polished and put on display.

Traditional foods and drinks

Festive meals feature poultry, pork, fish, and jungle produce such as bamboo shoots, palm hearts, and wild ferns. A signature dish is ayam pansuh, chicken pieces seasoned with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and wild herbs, stuffed inside fresh bamboo stalks and roasted over an open wood fire. Glutinous rice is cooked inside bamboo nodes or wrapped in leaves before steaming. A central part of the feast is tuak, a sweet fermented rice wine brewed weeks ahead of time using yeast and newly harvested rice. Distilling tuak over heat produces a much stronger liquor known as langkau.

Music attire and contests

Celebrants often put on traditional dress called ngepan to receive guests. Men wear loincloths, woven sashes, hornbill feathers, and animal skin vests, while women wear beaded collars and woven skirts. Communal events feature cultural displays, including the graceful Ngajat dance, Pencha sword routines, and Kuntau martial arts demonstrations. Communities also organise beauty and cultural pageants for both men and women, such as the Pekit Kumang and Pekit Keling contests. These public events, alongside street food stalls and open-house hospitality, continue throughout the entire month of June.

How Gawai Dayak is kept

Before the festival begins, families clean their homes, harvest and dry paddy, visit graves, and prepare traditional delicacies. When Gawai arrives, the communal gallery of the longhouse is opened with the spreading of ceremonial mats. Guests are welcomed with glasses of home-brewed tuak and offerings of roasted meat cooked in bamboo. Celebrations continue with shared feasts, music, traditional dances like the Ngajat, martial arts demonstrations, and local pageants. Families host open houses throughout June, allowing friends and relatives from different communities to visit, dine, and exchange blessings.

When and where

Gawai Dayak is officially observed on 1 and 2 June each year in Sarawak. Preparations begin in May, and celebratory gatherings, dinners, and cultural pageants often continue throughout the entire month of June.

The festival is celebrated primarily across the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. It is also celebrated by Dayak communities in neighbouring West Kalimantan, Indonesia, and among the Dayak diaspora living elsewhere.

What Gawai Dayak means

For Dayak communities, Gawai Dayak expresses thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest and asks for continued health, prosperity, and luck in the coming farming cycle. The festival serves as an important occasion to maintain ancestral customs, showcase textile and craft arts, and strengthen solidarity across different Dayak groups.

On the table

• Tuak
• Ayam pansuh
• Langkau
• Pangkang
• Kuih sarang semut
• Kuih kapit
• Penganan iri
• Upa aping

Flavours: Ginger Garlic Lemongrass

Questions people ask about Gawai Dayak

See also

KaamatanAn annual May harvest celebration of thanksgiving and community across Sabah, MalaysiaMawlidAn annual festival marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, marked by poetry, processions and feasts.Mid-Autumn FestivalAn annual harvest festival celebrating family reunions, full moons and mooncakesGanesh ChaturthiA Hindu festival celebrating the arrival of Ganesha, marked by clay idols, sweets, and public processions.

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Gawai Dayak on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.