The mock battle comes a day before the festival opens
Related guide: Baliem Valley Festival 2027
Wim Lukatok is a mock battle that re-enacts warfare between the peoples of the Baliem Valley. In 2026 it was not part of the festival days at all. It closed a preview event in Wamena on the afternoon of 6 August, the day before the festival opened.
Outsiders first saw the valley in 1938, when Richard Archbold's expedition spotted it from the air. Wamena, the capital of Jayawijaya Regency, sits on the Baliem River, and most visitors fly in and out from Jayapura.
The 2026 festival was the 34th. Indonesia's official tourism site framed it around the heritage of the Hubula people, with traditional dance, bakar batu stone cooking, pig races and youth games such as sikoko and puradan.
Bakar batu is the highlands' communal way of cooking food with heated stones. The preview event scheduled it for late morning, after Khe Yugu Wolok, a Hubula wedding procession in which the groom's party walks to the bride's honai hut.
The festival's last act was a carnival of cultures from across Indonesia, shared with dancers from Papua New Guinea.
The full guide to this festival
Baliem Valley Festival 2027: dates to be announced (held each August), mock battles and earth ovens in Wamena
Full guide: dates, getting there and what you can book →
