Sarawak’s Indigenous cultures span unique customs, languages and cuisines. What binds many of them together is the tradition of living in communal longhouses, where hosted stays now offer an authentic immersion in this world. Homestays also provide the satisfaction of knowing that your presence and money are helping to preserve these rich cultures. Constructed from forest materials, stilted longhouses can measure more than 100m in length. They may host dozens of families and are divided by internal partitions known as bilik-bilik. For visitors, it’s a chance to experience how generations of communities have lived. 

Stay in a longhouse

Twenty years ago, I had a remarkable stay with the Iban (also known as the Sea Dayak) at Nanga Sumpa Longhouse. I ate a communal meal of steamed chicken rice and drank homemade tuak wine, then a metal platter arrived from within the longhouse’s dimly lit interior. Dessert, I wondered? Far from it, the platter displayed two shrunken heads surrounded by candles and flowers. I was dining with the ancestors of the head-hunters of Borneo. “We honour the souls of the dead; our warriors taken in past generations,” said the headman. Head-hunting is now long gone, but such longhouses offer a continuity to authentic customs. 

Located by the Delok River, near Batang Ai National Park, travellers to Nanga Sumpa stay in comfortable en-suite forest rooms and spend time eating and talking with the Iban within the 90m-long longhouse. From there, you can trek through the surrounding jungle with an Iban guide, who will be attuned to spotting local wildlife, perhaps even an orangutan, as well as visit their farmland to see how they grow deliciously fresh produce.  

Handily located for day trips, the Annah Rais village longhouse – just 60km from Kuching – is home to a community of Bidayuh people, the region’s second largest ethnic group. The Bidayuh are rice cultivators and are known as the ‘land Dayaks’. Dating back nearly two centuries, Annah Rais longhouse lodges over 80 families in a magnificent structure with a sweeping bamboo walkway. Remarkably, it maintains a panggah, or headhouse, where enemy skulls are kept. But fear not, it’s no longer in use!  

Outsiders nowadays are welcomed. Staying a night delivers insights into everyday Bidayuh life. Guests can experience jungle trail hikes with local guides or take to the water on bamboo rafts. You can even swim beneath the magnificently tiered Biduan waterfall and luxuriate in a local hot spring. En route to Annah Rais, you can pit stop at Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, which houses semi-wild orangutans rescued from deforestation or freed from being illegally kept as pets. 

The Melanau are coastal people who farm a starchy staple called sago palm and speak a wide variety of dialects. A trip to Lamin Dana on the Telian River is a voyage into a traditional world, where adherence to old funerary practices means that coffins are still hung in plain sight from burial poles called jerunai. Lamin Dana cultural lodge is a Melanau longhouse built over water. It’s a comparatively swish affair, with air-conditioning in guest rooms and wifi. Visitors can learn about Melanau culture and visit the old town of Mukah. The beach offers glorious strolls, and a longboat trip down the river puts the ancient burial-pole custom on view. Being so close to the coast ensures seafood features strongly within their cuisine, including a cured fish dish called umai that is similar to ceviche. A visit timed for April may coincide with Kaul, a significant Melanau festival that chases away unwelcomed spirits. 

Discover local crafts

Pua Kumbu is an Iban textile, once used as a canvas for cultural storytelling in ceremonies. Its bold patterns carry meaning, with each design symbolising local myths or scenes from daily life. Visitors in Kuching can see demonstrations at the Tun Jugah Foundation and even try simple weaving techniques alongside master craftswomen. 

Beads have been an important part of the culture of Sarawak’s indigenous groups for centuries and are still worn during festivals today. Locals continue to make ceramic beads in the traditional way. The beads come in many different colours but for an authentic look, mix up yellow, white, black and turquoise. 

Rattan remains central to Sarawak’s handicrafts and is valued for its strength and flexibility. Artisans weave it into baskets, mats and furniture, using methods passed down for generations. Visitors can stop by the Sarawak Craft Council or browse local markets to watch master weavers at work.

Get a feel for the festivals

It should be expected, given the lengthy occupancy of the land by Sarawak’s 34 ethnic groups, that the exuberance of its festivals borrows heavily from a traditional animist past. They are, in essence, celebrations of the essential elements of life, from the harvests that sustain the people to the appeasement of spirits. For visitors, they are a chance to take a deep look at traditions that date back millennia, but these aren’t the only festivals you’ll find here… 

A supercharged harvest festival, Gawai Dayak is primarily observed by the Dayak peoples during their downtime after the rice harvest, to thank nature for its bounty and to celebrate their community’s togetherness. At the epicentre of proceedings are the longhouses, especially around Bintulu, which has some 200 of them. These are often decorated during the festivity with Pua Kumbu (beautifully woven fabrics).  

Music and dance are accompanied by drumming. The festival cuisine includes manok pansoh (chicken cooked in a bamboo tube), while symbolic toasts of tuak rice wine are offered to visitors, who are welcomed with open arms to join the festivities.  

When: Typically on 1 June. 

Six-metre-high swings (known as tibou) that dangle off bamboo scaffolding steal the limelight during this festival of spirit appeasement celebrated by the seafaring Melanau community. Kaul is something of a spiritual spring clean, when unwanted spirits are driven away and ceremonial offerings are placed on seraheng (decorated poles). Kaul historically coincided with the end of the monsoon season, a joyous time because the  

calmer waters meant the fishing boats could access the sea once more. It also marks the new year of the Melanau calendar. But its current renown comes from the antics of the young men performing terrifying feats on the tibou – a daredevil centrepiece.  

When: In the third week of April. 

What’s engaging about the annual Kuching regatta is the evolution from its 19th-century origins during the rule of James Brooke (aka the White Rajah). He reputedly introduced it in 1872 so Tribal conflicts could be settled via boat races and not via bloodshed. Nowadays, the highlight is the frenetic energy of the dragon boat races, which include teams from Indonesia and Brunei. Thirty paddlers per bidar longboat battle it out for the title of ‘Raja Sungai’ (King of the River). Spectators can also see swimming races, a raft tug-of-war and stalls selling local foods and crafts in what amounts to a carnival atmosphere.  

When: Late October/early November.

The headline act, so to speak, of Sarawak’s many cultural events is the globally renowned Rainforest World Music Festival. Held in Kuching, this three-day fest has expanded since its origins in 1998, with well-known artists attending from around the globe. You’ll also find dance and music workshops as well as food stalls showcasing Sarawakian cuisine. In addition to local artists from Borneo, expect to hear anything from Mongolian throat singing to a Latvian bagpipe and drum band.  

When: 26–28 June 2026.