Hawaiʻi prepares to host the Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture for the first time. Here’s what you can expect

Photo: Courtesy Of Eric Chang. Retrieved from hawaiipublicradio.org

In June, Hawaiʻi will host the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture, which will draw more than 2,200 delegates from at least 28 Pacific countries and U.S. territories.

It’s the largest celebration of Indigenous Pacific Islanders, starting over half a century ago after a group of elders from the South Pacific raised concerns about the erosion of traditional practices.

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 in Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.

Festival Director Aaron Salā, who is Hawaiian and Samoan, said the festival honors traditional culture and elders while cultivating relationships with “our genealogies across the Pacific.”