Hawaii is hosting the Pacific Arts and Culture Festival — aka FestPAC — for the first time since it began more than 50 years ago.
Aiming to strengthen cultural ties among Pacific Island nations, the world’s largest celebration of indigenous Pacific people brings together artists, leaders, scholars and performers to celebrate the best of Pacific arts and culture.
So when did it start? And who is going to be there?
What is the Pacific Arts and Culture festival?
The festival is hosted by a different Pacific Island nation every four years — except when it took a break during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, Hawaii will host more than 2500 delegates representing at least 28 Pacific nations. Open to the public, the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC) will be hosted on the island of O’ahu from June 6 — 16th.
“The goal is really to bring together artists, cultural practitioners, officials, dignitaries, scholars to talk about the doing of culture, to talk about the place of culture and then to practice culture,” Festival director Aaron Salā said.
“It’s really the best of the best in the Pacific, coming together to conspire to the greatness of the region as a whole.”
Arts, crafts and oral traditions
Program sessions include Pacific art forms like kākau or tatau (tatooing), Ulana (weaving), kālai (carving) and more modern ways of storytelling, like filmmaking.
Issues on the agenda for symposium discussions include climate change, sustainability, and Indigenous approaches to the future, along with this year’s theme: “Ho’oulu Lāhui: Regenerating Oceania.”
Wa’a arrival ceremony
Traditional Wa’a (canoes), also known as va’a or vaka, will sail to Hawaii from Pacific nations including Tahiti and Cook Islands.
A special arrival ceremony will be held on Wednesday, June 5.
Pacific leaders
The Pacific Traditional Leaders Forum is expected to run from June 6 -16 in Hawai’i after being planned at the Traditional Leaders Talanoa held in Fiji earlier this year.
Kiingi Tuuheitia, the Māori King, announced earlier this year he would attend the inaugural meeting of Traditional Pacific Leaders, where climate change and environment protection are likely to be on the agenda.
The King, along with other Pacific leaders including Tou Travel Ariki, head of House Ariki in the Cook Islands, recently signed a declaration seeking legal personhood for whales, which aims to give robust protections that are recognised internationally.
Most of the festival’s events will be open to the public except for bilateral government meetings.
Which island nations will be there?
The nations from the Pacific region confirmed to attend include;
• n American Samoa;
• n Cook Islands;
• n Rapa Nui (Easter Island);
• n Federated States of Micronesia;
• n Fiji;
• n Tahiti;
• n Guam;
• n Hawai’i;
• n Kiribati;
• n Republic of the Marshall Islands;
• n Nauru;
• n New Caledonia;
• n Aotearoa New Zealand;
• n Niue;
• n Norfolk Island;
• n The Northern Mariana Islands;
• n Palau;
• n Papua New Guinea;
• n Pitcairn Island;
• n Samoa;
• n Solomon Islands;
• n Tokelau;
• n Tonga;
• n Tuvalu;
• n Vanuatu;
• n Wallis and Futuna;
• n Australia; and
• n Taiwan
Fiji hosted the first festival in 1972
The first festival in 1972 — once called the South Pacific Festival — was held in Suva, Fiji. Now, the festival is known as FestPAC and is held every four years, rotating among islands across Oceania.
Hawai’i hosts this year. Who is the next host?
Kicking off with a grand parade of nations, the festival’s Wehena (opening ceremony) will take place on Thursday, June 6 at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.
The Panina (closing ceremony) will be held on Sunday, June 16.
New Caledonia will host the next festival in 2028.
