Mt. Hagen Festival

I'm interested in the Mt. Hagen festival in July in PNG. Has anyone been there? Can you help with recommendations on flights from Australia to PNG and hotels near the festival? (Will I need to book in advance?) I hear there are hoards of guides that will offer tours once there. Any suggestions for weeding out the good from the bad? ALso, I hate taking Larium, but I guess maleria is worse. Would like to hear from you if you've been there or can help with my planning.

I used Airlines PNG from Brisbane which is easy to book online at much better fares then Air Niugini. The Mt Hagen festival is held in august, not july. Definitely book air tickets AND Hotels well in advance as that period around the festivals are the busiest of the year. I would book everything now immediately. I booked my stuff 1 year before.
Malarone is a very good anti malaria drug which I always use. No complications but expensive (at least here in Belgium).
See my personal site at www.globetrotters.be for a trip review + hundreds of PNG pictures and video.

On the malaria issue, I always use doxycycline with no problems, except that I need to take pro-biotics if I use it for more than 2 weeks.

Any luck with hotels? We are wanting to go independently in August as well.