Festival of Pacific Arts

The Festival of Pacific Arts, Pacific Arts Festival, or FESTPAC is a traveling festival hosted every four years, in the same year as the Summer Olympics, by a different country in Oceania (map). It was conceived by the Pacific Community (former "Secretariat of the Pacific Community")[1] as a means to stem erosion of traditional cultural practices by sharing and exchanging culture at each festival. The major theme of the festival is traditional song and dance. The 2008 Festival of Pacific Arts was hosted by American Samoa from 20 July to 2 August 2008; it was the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts.[2][3]

Festival of Pacific Arts
GenrePacific Islands music and dance
DatesQuadrennially
Location(s)Oceania; host country varies. Future hosts: 2024: USA .
Years activeSince 1972; see table below
WebsiteFestival history,
Current festival (redirect page)

The Pacific Cultural Council (former "Pacific Arts Council" or "Council of Pacific Arts," originally "South Pacific Arts Festival Council")[4] selects the host country and recognizes that each participating country desires the opportunity to showcase its unique indigenous culture by hosting the festival. Host selection is based on principles of equity and preference is given to countries which have not yet hosted. The festival host country pays participants' costs of local travel, accommodation, meals, and other forms of hospitality. Entry to all artistic events is free to the public thereby maximizing cultural outreach and inclusion.

By its vastness, the Pacific Ocean inhibits social and cultural interchange between the inhabitants of its mostly island countries. The festival, not a competition but a cultural exchange, reunites people and reinforces regional identity and mutual appreciation of Pacific-wide culture. Participating countries select artist-delegates to represent the nation at this crossroads of cultures, considered a great honour.

About 2,000 artists attended[5] the 2008 Festival of Pacific Arts from these participating countries:[3] American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Easter Island, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna.[2] Taiwan was allowed to send a delegation of 80 performers and artists, most of whom were Taiwanese aborigines, to the Festival of Pacific Arts for the first time in 2008.[6]

Locations
Iteration Year Dates Location Theme
1st 1972[7] 6 May-20 May Suva, Fiji "Preserving culture"
2nd 1976[8] 6 March-13 March Rotorua, New Zealand "Sharing culture"
3rd 1980[9] 30 June-12 July Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea "Pacific awareness"
4th 1985[10] 29 June-15 July Tahiti, French Polynesia "My Pacific"
5th 1988[11] 14 August-24 August Townsville, Australia "Cultural interchange"
6th 1992[12] 16 October-27 October Rarotonga, Cook Islands "Seafaring heritage"[13]
7th 1996[14] 8 September-23 September Apia, Samoa "Tala Measina"
8th 2000[15] 23 October-3 November Nouméa, New Caledonia "Words of past, present, future"[16]
9th 2004[17] 22 July-31 July Koror, Palau "Oltobed a Malt – Nurture, Regenerate, Celebrate"[18]
10th 2008[19] 20 July-2 August Pago Pago, American Samoa Su'iga'ula a le Atuvasa: Threading the Oceania 'Ula
11th 2012 1–14 July Honiara, Solomon Islands "Culture in Harmony with Nature"[20]
12th 2016 22 May-4 June Hagåtña, Guam “What We Own, What We Have, What We Share, United Voices of the PACIFIC” ~ “Håfa Iyo-ta, Håfa Guinahå-ta, Håfa Ta Påtte, Dinanña’ Sunidu Siha Giya PASIFIKU”
13th 2020[21] 10-21 June 2020 Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Not held on grounds of COVID-19 pandemic.
2024 06–16 June 2024 "TBA"

See also

Footnotes
  1. Unattributed (8 August 2008). "Secretariat of the Pacific Community". Pacific Community Website (in English and French). Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
  2. Unattributed (1 May 2007). "2008 Festival of the Pacific Arts". Office of Insular Affairs, United States Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
  3. Unattributed. "10th Festival of Pacific Arts -- American Samoa -- July 20 - August 2, 2008". 10th Festival of Pacific Arts. American Samoa Office for the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-09. The official web site of the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts.
  4. Unattributed (26 July 2008). "Festival of Pacific Arts changes name". Islands Business. Islands Business International. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 2008-08-10. This mis-titled article describes adoption of name change, not by the Festival of Pacific Arts, but by its overseeing body, from "Council of Pacific Arts" to "Pacific Cultural Council."
  5. Secretariat of the Pacific Community (21 July 2008). "Pacific Arts Festival Hours Away From Opening". Pacific Magazine. Trans-Oceanic Media. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  6. "Taiwan gets go ahead to attend Pacific Arts Festival in American Samoa". Radio New Zealand International. 2008-06-15. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  7. "1st Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  8. "2nd Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  9. "3rd Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  10. "4th Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10. Mentions the festival location and date had to be changed due to 1984 political instability in New Caledonia which was originally planned to host.
  11. "5th Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  12. "6th Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  13. Lyon, Wenonah (1995). "Social Context and the Limits on Symbolic Meanings". Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing. University of Kent. Archived from the original on 2009-06-26. Retrieved 2008-08-11. A scholarly paper about the symbolism of voyaging canoes.
  14. "7th Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  15. "8th Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  16. "8th Festival of Pacific Arts". Pacific Arts Online (in English, French, and Tok Pisin). Artok. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  17. "9th Festival of Pacific Arts". Festivals of Pacific Arts. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  18. Moulin, Jane Freeman (Fall 2005). "Oltobed a Malt (Nurture, regenerate, celebrate)". The Contemporary Pacific. University of Hawaiʻi Press. 17 (2): 512–6. doi:10.1353/cp.2005.0065. Retrieved 2008-08-09. Although access to the full article is restricted through Project MUSE, the free synopsis is useful.
  19. Karen Stevenson (2012). "The Festival of Pacific Arts Celebrating 40 Years" (PDF). Secretariat of the Pacific Community. p. 12. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  20. "11th Festival of Pacific Arts". Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
  21. "Hawaii Wins Bid to Host 2020 Festival". Festival. Island Sun Newspaper. Archived from the original on 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
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