The story
Kutubu Digaso Oil Festival in Lake Kutubu
The Kutubu Digaso Oil Festival references digaso, a traditional plant or seep-sourced oil historically produced and traded by communities around Lake Kutubu in Southern Highlands Province, though this research session could not independently confirm the current existence or format of a public festival by this name.
Lake Kutubu, a substantial freshwater lake fed largely by underground sources in Southern Highlands Province, has long supported Foi and neighboring communities whose traditional economy included a locally distinctive resource: oil, drawn from plants or natural seeps around the lake, used for cooking and skin care and valuable enough to trade with highland communities further from the lakeshore who had no direct access to it.