KUCHING: The Orang Ulu community will host this year's state-level Gawai Dayak celebration, says Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah.
The Sarawak Deputy Premier said the community was appointed as the host based on a rotation system at a meeting on Monday (March 10).
Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier's Office (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Datuk Gerawat Gala was also appointed as the organising committee chairman.
Uggah, who chairs the state Gawai Dayak celebration's main committee, said Gerawat would form a working committee and propose programme dates.
"This is a golden opportunity for the Orang Ulu community to showcase their culture and traditions," he said.
He described last year's celebration, organised by the Bidayuh community, as a great success, with many improvements over previous celebrations.
"The spirit of working together among the Bidayuh, Iban, and Orang Ulu communities was inspiring, proving that we can achieve a lot with our unity.
"I hope this spirit will continue in all that we do together in the years ahead and not be confined to the Gawai Dayak celebration," he added.
State Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah, who chaired last year's working committee, said five main programmes were carried out for the celebration.
These included a Gawai Dayak bazaar, carnival, cultural parade, and state-level Gawai dinner.
The committee also published a Gawai tourism brochure and coffee table book.
"This is the first time a coffee table book has been published on the celebration.
"We hope to launch it before this year's Gawai celebration, which is about two months away," Sagah said.
Gawai is the harvest festival celebrated by Sarawak's Dayak communities on June 1-2.
