10th Festival of the Pacific Arts

Every 4 years a participating Pacific island hosts one of the most amazing events I've ever had the priveledge of attending. American Samoa just so happened to be that host this year. Lucky us! It's a gathering of culture and tradition from all over the the world's largest ocean! 26 Pacific island nations were represented. (Can you name 3?.... I couldn't before I moved here either) Now, not only do I know most of them, I've seen them dance, I know what the eat, how they dress, and what they sell to gullible tourists. Who knew the Pacific was so diverse?

This part in the blog series is the Festival Village, where all the islands had a fale (Samoan house) to give demonstrations and information on their culture and traditions.
There was everything from New Zealand tattooing, Solomon Island and basketweaving and wood carving,
Aboriginal basketweaving,
poi making in Hawaii, weapon making in Tonga,
to the bamboo band from Taiwan. A lot of the villagers had dancing in the middle of the village as well. Pictured here are some of the people of Papua New Guinea.
The cultural experience was phenomenal. Shopping was pretty good too.