This float is so sturdy that it is able to transport dozens of people on board. It is one among many being featured in this year’s Gawai Dayak parade in Kampung Taee. -Photo JKKK Kampung Taee
SERIAN: The annual Gawai Dayak parade remains Kampung Taee’s unique way of celebrating the festival, where the folk there would highlight creatively constructed float sand colourful traditional costumes throughout the procession.
According to a villager Priscilla Michael, the parade is not meant as a form of worship or as mere performance.
“It is an effort to make the festival much, much livelier. At the same time, it serves to introduce and showcase the arts, culture and traditional dances of the Bukar Sadong group of the Bidayuhs.
“In Serian, the Bidayuhs here can be differentiated from other groups within the same ethnic community through our traditional attire and accessories, as well as the history that comes with them,” she shared on her Facebook page recently.
Priscilla said the annual parade had been attracting many tourists, many of whom would visit Kampung Taee just for the event.
“We would offer ‘tuak’ to the visitors, and also serve them our traditional dishes, including one made from rice flour and a few made from jungle produce.
“We would also entertain them with our welcoming dance,” she added, reminding those who might have missed this year’s event, to ‘mark June 1 on their calendar next year’. Kampung Taee’s annual Gawai parade takes place on June 1 every year, running from 1pm to 5pm.