HONOLULU — The 13th Festival of Pacific Arts &Culture — the world’s largest celebration of Indigenous Pacific Islanders — concluded Sunday evening with a sold-out closing ceremony at the University of Hawai‘i’s SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, distributing all 6,500 free tickets. HONOLULU — The 13th Festival of Pacific Arts &Culture — the world’s largest celebration of Indigenous Pacific Islanders — concluded Sunday evening with a sold-out closing ceremony at the University of Hawai‘i’s SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, distributing all 6,500 free tickets. Inaugurated in 1972 to halt the erosion of traditional practices through cultural exchange, the quadrennial event invited Hawai‘i to observe in 1976 before allowing its participation in subsequent festivals.
Kalani Ka‘ana‘ana, chair of the 13th FestPAC commission, said it was an “incredibly proud moment for Hawai‘i, and for us as Kanaka to host the festival.” “This has been a long journey,” Ka‘ana‘ana said. “This is the first time we’ve been able to host and return some of the hospitality we’ve received as a traveling delegation.
” Hawai‘i was set to host the event in June 2020, but had to postpone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ka‘ana‘ana said the state had been preparing for this event for 12 years, if not the entire 50 years since the festival’s inception. “We’ve seen really large attendance numbers that have exceeded our goals and expectations,” .
