Thousands watch tidal bore at Batang Lupar

Pesta Benak in Sri Aman, Sarawak 

Big challenge: Rescue boats on standby during the festival at Batang Lupar in Sri Aman on Saturday while thousands of visitors watch from the riverbank.

SRI AMAN: There was lots of fun and drama as boats participating in the Tidal Bore Festival in Batang Lupar here raced against the waves. 

As they were making their way against the roaring waves, several boats that failed to take the pounding overturned and threw its paddlers into the water. 

This year’s three-day annual festival, which ended on Saturday, saw a record of 250 boats of various types. 

The festival, the biggest social event for this quiet town, drew tens of thousands of visitors, mainly tourists. 

The tidal bore, locally known as benak, is a unique natural phenomenon in which the incoming tide form waves as high as 3m that travel up the river against the current. 

Batang Lupar, known for its man-eating crocodiles, is among 56 places in the world where the tidal bore has been observed.  

The tidal bore at Batang Lupar starts from the estuary region of Pulau Seduku and moves upriver for 30km and subsidies near the small village of Engkilili. 

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, who launched the festival, said it had the potential to lure tourists. 

“The festival has made this town exciting. Shopkeepers are happy to cater to tourists.” 

Besides the boats, the festival featured traditional games, a trade expo with sale of local produce, an exhibition on the tidal bore in Batang Lupar and a showcase of traditional Iban, Malay and Chinese wedding ceremonies. 

Jabu said the festival had produced economic spin-offs for the town. 

The town was renamed from Simanggang after the Government and communist insurgents signed a peace treaty in 1973. Under the treaty, more than 500 communists laid down their arms and returned to society.