Festival of Pacific Arts

The tradition & historical record

The Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC), also known as the Pacific Arts Festival, is a travelling festival hosted every four years in Oceania. It was conceived by the Pacific Community 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. ¹

The Pacific Cultural Council (formerly "Pacific Arts Council" or "Council of Pacific Arts", originally "South Pacific Arts Festival Council") selects the host country and recognises 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 maximising 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. Indigenous land-rights activist Eddie Koiki Mabo was heavily involved in the organisation of the 1988 festival held in Townsville, working as Community Arts Officer with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. ¹

The 10th Festival of Pacific Arts was hosted by American Samoa from 20 July to 2 August 2008. About 2,000 artists attended the 2008 Festival of Pacific Arts from these participating countries: 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. 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. ¹

Doreen Kuper was the Chair of the Festival of Pacific Arts that was held in Honiara in 2012. The festival attracted an audience of 200,000 people, with 3,000 performers from twenty-four countries taking part. During her time as Chair, Kuper led calls for the repatriation of art and artefacts to the Solomon Islands from non-Pacific countries. ¹

The 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture convened in Hawaii in June 2024. "Ho‘oulu Lāhui: Regenerating Oceania" served as the theme of FestPAC Hawaiʻi 2024, honouring the traditions that FestPAC exists to perpetuate with an eye toward the future. In 2018, the Hawaii State Legislature appointed a temporary commission to oversee the planning and implementation of FestPAC Hawaii. Its nine members, appointed by the Governor, state lawmakers and officials, represented the culture, spirit and heart of Hawaiʻi. Many have experienced the power of FestPAC first hand over the years. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Festival of Pacific Arts”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Festival of Pacific Arts is a traveling festival hosted every four years by a different country, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 2 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²