JAYAPURA The Papua Tourism Office is planning to hold te Lake Sentani Festival between 16 and 19 July 2008 to support the Baliem Valley Festival that will be held in the district of Jayawijaya in August 2008. “The Lake Sentani Festival will be held as an effort to protect the culture of the Jayapura District, mainly in the Sentani Lake area,” told Elly Weror, head of the Papua Tourism Office.

The two festivals were designed in such a way to ease tourists wishing to enjoy the festivities, Weror said, adding that the festivals were also intended to prolong their stays in the province. Previously, there were only three big cultural festivals, namely the cultural festival of Baliem Valley, that of Asmat and that of Kamoro, he said.

He added the office was likewise trying to realize the Cendrawasih Bay Festival. Besides holding the cultural events, he added, the province has been reorganizing the tourist sites in the area, including the Holtekam Beach located some 60 kilometers from Jayapura.