After many years of anticipation and planning, Hawai‘i is excited to serve as host of the prestigious 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC), the world’s largest celebration of indigenous Pacific Islanders, from 6 – 16 June 2024.
More than 2,500 delegates, including artists, cultural practitioners, scholars, and officials from 28 nations will gather on O’ahu for 10-days of cultural exchange, appreciation, and celebration at various venues across the island. The festival’s overarching vision is to bring together our Pacific brethren who are guided by their ancestral values to connect, innovate, and rise to the challenges of an ever-changing world.
“Hawai‘i is honored to host the 13th FestPAC and I look forward to welcoming our friends from across the Pacific to celebrate the many cultures that make up this important region,” said Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green. “FestPAC is so much more than a celebration of arts and culture, it is also a venue for leaders from across the Pacific to meet and discuss important issues impacting our region that will have a lasting impact for future generations.”
The theme selected for the 13th FestPAC is Hoʻoulu Lāhui: Regenerating Oceania – hoʻoulu lāhui meaning to grow the nation. The upcoming festival will help bring to light many of the urgent issues facing the Pacific region – from rising sea levels, climate change, sustainability, and the death of coral reefs, to widening social inequality – to illuminate our path toward the future.
Kalani L. Ka‘anā‘anā, chair of the FestPAC Hawai‘i Commission and , shared that: “It has been eight long years since the 12th FestPAC was held in Guam back in 2016 and now we look forward to receiving our Pacific sisters and brothers, to celebrate and showcase Pacific arts while also discussing critical issues that we all face.”
The 10-day festival will feature more than 50 programs and events, including conferences and symposia, live performances, cultural workshops, hands-on demonstrations, films, storytelling and more. The festival’s mission is to strengthen the cultural resilience by cultivating connection, sharing culture and practices, and learning, growing and adapting to a changing climate, while working together to elevate Pacific Islanders by focusing on the following:
- Preserving and reviving of traditional arts and cultures of the Pacific;
- Exploring new forms of cultural activities suited to the needs of the Pacific;
- Creating greater awareness of the cultural richness of the Pacific throughout the world;
- Fostering a greater sense of unity throughout the Pacific to promote excellence in arts; and
- Promoting the development and use of ethnic [indigenous] languages.
Since its inception in 1972, FestPAC has served as an important venue for cultural conservation and revitalization, creativity and innovation, and cultural diplomacy for the Pacific community. Held every four years, in collaboration with the Pacific Community and the Council of Pacific Arts and Culture, FestPAC is the only event that brings together the indigenous and other communities from 28 nations of the Pacific regardless of their political status.
