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A woman in traditional Sumbanese dress and headpiece

West Sumba · February to March

Pasola, the festival a sea worm schedules

Two teams of horsemen charge and throw blunt spears on the West Sumba grasslands. Nobody can tell you the date more than a week or two ahead, and that is not evasion.

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Notice before it happens
1-2wk
Teams of horsemen
2
The usual window
Feb-Mar
Fixed public calendar
0

In short

Pasola is a ritual horseback spear-throwing festival held by Marapu communities on the grasslands of West Sumba, and its date follows the nyale sea worms and the moon rather than any published calendar.

  • Two teams charge at speed and throw blunt wooden spears; spilling blood on the earth is the offering for a good harvest.
  • The Rato, the ritual priests, read the appearance of the nyale worm and confirm the date roughly one to two weeks beforehand.
  • The nyale is a bristle worm, Eunice viridis, that emerges from the reef in its spawning swarm.
  • Different areas of West Sumba hold theirs on different days, so there is no single national date.

Planning around it

What you can and cannot fix

Be honest with yourself about the risk before you book flights around a ceremony.

You cannot book the date

Only the month is predictable. Anyone selling you a confirmed Pasola date months ahead is guessing.

You can book the window

February and March in West Sumba is the window. Travel inside it and you improve your odds.

It is not on the fixed route

None of the four, five or six day itineraries includes Pasola. It is a reason to time your trip, not a stop on it.

It is a ritual, not a show

It is held for the community, not for visitors. Follow your tour leader and the local instructions on the day.

Getting there

Trips that run in the Pasola window

February and March fall inside the green season, and every trip length runs through it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Travelling in February or March?

Tell us your dates and we will say plainly what the odds look like that year.

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