PIC Board Member Regina Meredith Fitiao Reflects on FestPAC 2024
Importance of the Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture
The Festival of Pacific Arts & Cultures (FestPAC) has a history, and has been bringing us together since 1972. The vision of the initiators of FestPAC, the South Pacific Commission (SPC - now known as the Pacific Community) aims to halt the erosion of traditional practices through ongoing cultural exchange, and those of us who continue to participate truly believe in this cause.
Our host for 2024, Hawai’i, provided a rich and lasting experience for us. They brought a new component into the event, high technology on a grand scale. With the sophistication of technology, the Hawai ‘i Convention Center was transformed into an outstanding indoor Festival village with sounds and visuals that made one feel as if walking into Oceania under the stars. It was dark yet glittered with lights from each of the respective hale (house) of each island nation. And throughout the 10 days, visitors to the FestPAC event visited our islands in this high-tech environment. Hawai’i included other venues that provided cultural togetherness, from the Wa’a arrival at Kualoa State Beach Park, to tatau, the traditional tattoo vis-a-vis carving situated on the Bishop Museum premises. Performers, choirs, fashionistas and contemporary visuals were all a part of the grand scope and the magnitude of this endeavor played out with our natural ability to bring our islands to the shores of O‘ahu.
If someone were to ask me why FestPAC is critically important to attend and engage in I would have to say that above any other event of this caliber, it is FestPAC whose sole purpose is to bring our island nations of Oceania together to show our unique and profound presence in the world and that despite our diversity and differences, we share one common bond: we all rely upon the Pacific Ocean, and that our cultural differences do not separate us but harmonize our gathering.
Categories: None