The annual celebration of Highland food culture returns this July. Pesta Nukenen, as the festival is locally known, is now in its 16th edition, bringing the rich culture of this tiny village of 7,000 inhabitants and its surrounding area to the world. Bario is famous for its ingredients, from its eponymous rice variety to its special pineapple and even hill salt, so people fly in from all over to enjoy Kelabit cuisine and all the culture that goes with it over this three-day extravaganza that proves completely why an arduous journey in Sarawak is always worth the effort.
