The festival of Pacific arts

The delegations from twenty-seven Pacific island countries and areas are coming for two weeks at the island chosen as the place of festival arrangement. The representatives of various countries demonstrate their culture, habits, and traditions.

The festival has been inviting guests since 1972, and in 2008 its tenth performance occurred. The idea of such a festival organization was offered at the conference of South Pacific Commission which is famous now as Secretariat of the Pacific Community. The festival was invented as the attempt to save the culture and traditions of Oceania’s nations.

At the festival there are demonstrations of crafts, music, dances, outfits of participating countries and nations. Every time an exact topic is chosen for the festival, and the representatives reflect it in their performances. By the way, every island country selects very accurately the representatives for the festival. All the participants prepare for the festivals as for the big holiday.

At the Festival of Pacific arts the participants do not compete, their main task is the presentation of their country’s culture, as well as use of such a rare chance for cultural exchange. It should be taken under consideration that the countries of Pacific region are separated by the huge distances while the transport infrastructure of this region is underdeveloped.

The place of festival arrangement is changing. Particularly, in different years the festival was hold in American Samoa, Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Australia, Palau, etc. The festival is usually arranged in summer time.