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EVENTS CALENDAR
 In Tahiti or in the outer Islands, something is
happening every month:
Spectacular shows of song and dance, celebrations of
ancient rituals, artisan exhibits, flower days, balls, introduction to ancestral
practices, festival of traditionnal music, high level sports competitions, gastronomic
tastings, celebrations of the black pearl or Polynesian beauties.
JANUARY
New Years's Day
This public holiday is celebrated throughout Tahiti and Her Islands. A long-standing
custom is to drive around the island, visiting friends and relatives, bringing guitars and
ukuleles for the famous « Tahitian Bringue », which includes singing, dancing and
feasting.
Chinese New Year
Tahiti’s Chinese Community welcomes the New Chinese Year with traditional
dances, martial arts demonstrations, Chinese food tasting stands, calligraphy and painting
demonstrations and a fireworks display. A Spring Festival Queen from the Chinese community
will be elected during a beauty pageant dinner-dance. Much of the 4 day celebration is
held at the Chinese Temple in the Mamao section of Papeete, where red candles, incense and
symbolic money are burned, speeches are made and prayers are recited for prosperity and
good health during the coming year. Banquets and shows are held at a local hotel and
restaurant, where entertainment includes special singers and dancers brought to Tahiti
from Asia.
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FEBRUARY
Valentine's Day
February 14 th
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MARCH
3 Week Celebreation of Polynesian Cultural Traditions
This is a special occasion paying tribute to many of the ancient Polynesian cultural
traditions that have been kept alive. Demonstrations of such ancient talents as tattooing,
the practice of local medicine ( Ra’au Tahiti), the making of colorful head crowns,
basket-weaving and the art of treating illnesses and ailments through body massage will be
presented daily at Place Vaiete, a large public square next to the Port of Papeete.
Heilager World Jet Ski Cup Races
This international event involves ocean jet ski races amoung some of the world’s top
competitors.
Arrival of the First Missionaries
Sunday, March 5th
Protestant Church parishes on the islands of Tahiti and Moorea will be celebrating the
18th annual public holiday honoring the arrival of the first Christian missionaries 197
years ago. March 5th, 1797, is the historic date when members of the newly formed London
Missionnary Society arrived in Tahiti’s already historic Matavai Bay aboard the ship
Duff. The holiday celebration involves colorful church services in each Protestant parish,
followed by special religious performances by groups of parishes, which re-enact various
aspects of the first missionaries’s arrival. The biggest of the performances are held
at the Willy Bambridge Stadium complex in the Tipairui section of Papeete, and, on Moorea,
at the outdoor stadium in Afareaitu, along the southeast coast.
International Day of the Woman
Wednesday, March 8th
This is the day of the year when women of all ages in Tahiti and Her Islands get together
to discuss the role of the women and her importance in the daily lives of everyone in
French Polynesia.
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APRIL
Polynesian Sports Festival
This special occasion is devoted to the demonstration of such traditional Polynesian
sports events as fruit-carrier races, javelin-throwing, outrigger canoe races and other
events closely linked to ancient Polynesian tradition.
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MAY
Ukulele Festival
The Ukulele Festival is held in Tahiti. This instrument was introduced
from Portugal into the Hawaiian islands in 1879. Its advantage is that it’s easier to
make and to play than a guitar. Ukulele music entertainment takes place in several places
in downtown along with other traditional instruments.
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JUNE
Miss Tahiti and Miss Heiva I Tahiti Contest
This is the oldest, biggest and most prestigious of all the many beauty contests held
throughout Tahiti and Her Islands each year. The winner becomes a roving ambassador for
Tahiti, participating in the Miss France and several international beauty contests. The
winner of the Miss Heiva ( Miss Tahiti Festival) title reigns during the month-long
celebration.
Miss Dragon Queen Beauty Contest
The Chinese community’s oldest, biggest and most prestigious beauty queen pageant is
the annual Miss Dragon election. A variety of Chinese entertainment - from singing and
dancing to martial arts demonstrations - highlights the evening.
Day of the Tahition Fern (Le « Maire »)
The special occasion includes an exhibit of the many variety of beautiful ferns found in
Tahiti, « Le Maire » being the one Tahitians use to make their lovely head crowns. This
celebration ends with a Tahitian banquet and dance at a hotel specially decorated with
ferns for the occasion.
Visit of Tahiti's Natural Sites
As part of the World Environment, Day’s public awareness campaign, visits are
organized to many of the island’s spectacular natural sites. Participants discover
Tahiti’s huge variety of plants, its many waterfalls, its beautiful beaches, its
famous Arahoho Blowhole, its cool, refreshing grottos, and its « Marae », or restored
ancient sacred temples of worship built of stone.
World Environment Day
An entire day of exhibits, films, shows, singing and dancing is held at the historic Venus
Point in the north coast Commune of Mahina. But this special day involves a major
environmental awareness program throughout Tahiti and Her Islands. Guided tours are
organized into such beautiful interiors as the Fautaua, Papenoo and Lake Vahiria Valleys
and to the top of one of the island’s most famous mountains « l’Aorai ».
International Tahiti Black Pearl Festival
This 4-day event pays tribute to Tahiti’s most famous and biggest export, the
cultured black pearl. Jewelers, jewelry boutiques and pearl farms will join together to
promote the Tahiti black pearl and the lovely jewelry made with it. There will be three
different exhibits, including one of international pearl jewelry. There will be black
pearl jewelry fashion shows and a gala evening on June 17th with the election of the first
Pearl Queen.
Internal Autonomy Day
June 29th
This public holiday celebrates the anniversary of the French parliamentary statut
adopted in 1984 granting Tahiti increased self-governing powers. The main holiday
celebration is a big parade of some 3,000 participants, including the newly crowned Miss
Tahiti and Miss Heiva I Tahiti, a variety of sports organizations and many other. This day
also signals the start of the annual Heiva I Tahiti, or July Tahiti Festival.
Annual Tahiti International Golf Open
Professional golfers from throughout the Pacific and the U.S and Europe come to Tahiti
each year for this 4-day event at the Olivier BREAUD International Golf Course in the
Atimaono area of the south coast. New Zealander Grant MOORHEAD won the 1993 and the 1994
Tahiti Open receiving a cash prize of US$9,000 while 35 other pro golfers divided up the
rest of the US$40,000 in cash prizes. The open is traditionally preceded by a 1-day Pro-Am
team tournament and is followed by an awards banquet at a hotel.
Annual International Pro-Am Surfing Open
Known locally as « HORUE », the first nautical gliding sport originating in Tahiti, this
3-day event is highlighted by daily entertainment, including a volleyball tournament, a
bikini fashion show and music concerts by local and visiting groups.
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JULY
Anual Heiva I Tahiti
This is the oldest, the biggest and the most famous of all the yearly celebrations in
Tahiti. Visitors from all over the world come to Tahiti each year just to witness this
month-long, fun-filled, colorful, entertaining and amusing celebration, during which life
in the islands focuses on what Tahitians do best-having fun. This is the time of year when
Tahitians of all walks of life provide amusement and entertainment for themselves as well
as visiting spectators. This mixture of classic folkloric events, such as dancing and
singing competition combined with such modern events as international surfing competition,
makes the festival the most varied celebration each year. Besides the dancing and singing
among professional and amateur groups, other traditional highlights of each festival are
outrigger canoe races in Papeete Harbor, a special from of javelin-throwing, colorful
fruit-carrier’s races through the streets of Papeete, a copra-preparation contest,
stone-lifting competition and contest of wearing and hat-making. An Arts and Crafts
Village, with daily exhibits demonstrations and entertainment, becomes major attraction
during the first weeks of each Tahiti Festival. Another highlight is an historical
re-enactment of a colorful aspect of Tahiti’s ancient history that is repeated
several times at the Arahurahu Marae, a restored ancient sacred temple of worship in the
south coast Commune of Paea. And there is the country fair atmosphere created daily by
amusement rides and colorful stands known as the « baraques de la Fête Foraine ».
Firewalking Ceremony
This is one of the most spectacular of the ancient Polynesian traditions that have been
preserved in Tahiti. A large crowd of spectators is traditionally drawn to this ceremony
to watch as today’s Tahitians call upon their ancestor’ gods for protection as
they walk across hot lava stones that have been heated by fire for several hours before
the start of this colorful, yet mysterious, ceremony.
The French Bastille Day
July 14th
The oldest of all public holidays in Tahiti, this is the French equivalent of the U.S.
Fourth of July. The day begins with a military parade in downtown Papeete and ends with a
public dance ball that continues until dawn.
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AUGUST
The Mini-Festival
After the month-long July Tahiti Festival, it’s now time for the much shorter and
increasingly popular mini-festival, which combines special dining and folkloric
entertainment at various hotels on the islands of Tahiti, Moorea and Bora-Bora. The best
folkloric dancing and singing groups from the just completed July Tahiti Festival now
dance just for fun during 9 nights of entertainment and gastronomic dining at one of
Tahiti’s international-hotels. A program of this event may be obtained from the Fare
Manihini (Tourism Office).
Annual
« The Aito » Marathon Outrigger Canoe Races
This outrigger canoe race in Tahiti is compared to the warrior « Aito » - which explains
the name for these two grueling races, one for women, the other for men. In both, one
person canoes are used. The women’s race covers a distance of 20 km ( 12,4 miles),
while the men’s race is 25 km ( 15,5 miles) long. The racing site is the historic
Matavai Bay at Venus Point in the north coast Commune of Mahina.
Traditional Folkloric Dance Costume Display
Exhibit of Tahitian folkloric dance costumes and video films demonstrating folkloric
dances.
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SEPTEMBER
Annual Flower Show
This yearly « Floralies » is the larger annual flower show organised by the the Harrison
Smith Association and tribute to Tahiti’s « Grandfather of the Trees », the
American physics professor who became a South Pacific botanist, Harrison Willard Smith. He
devoted a modest fortune to enriching Tahiti’s inherent tropical flora with hundreds
of specimens of plants, fruit trees and flowers from around the word. Smith chose
Tahiti’s south coast district of Papeari for his home and garden, creating what today
is the Harrison Smith Botanical Garden next to the Gauguin Museum. The annual flower show
is open to the public daily in downtown Papeete, offering visitors interesting souvenirs
of colorful posters from this and previous flower shows.
World Tourism Day and Tourism Week
Taking advantage of the annual World Tourism Day on September 27th, Tahiti has turned this
tribute to tourists from all over the world into a multi-day celebration on all of the
islands traditionally visited by tourists. The employees of travel agencies, airlines,
hotels, restaurants, the Tourist Office, post offices, banks, stores and ground
transportation companies, plus taxi drivers and drivers of Tahiti’s famous « le
Truck », dress up for this occasion by wearing a variety of colorful Polynesian clothes,
complete with head crowns and a flower behind the ear. Many of the offices and other
facilities are colorfully decorated for the occasion with flowers and plants. The Papeete
Public Marketplace is decorated with ferns and flowers, while the « mamas » who work at
the arts and crafts stands stage a daily, day-long festival of singing, dancing and
entertaining. On World Tourism Day itself, all tourists are offered special shopping
bargains and reduced entry prices at various museums.
Master Taapuna Surf Club
Local and foreign surfers compete in 6-8 feet barrel waves from
the famous reef called «TAAPUNA », 15 minutes drive from downtown Papeete the main town
of TAHITI.
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OCTOBER
Annual Tree Festival
This colorful event is highlighted by various folkloric groups who entertain Territorial
Assembly’s exhibit hall in downtown Papeete.
Annual Stone-Fishing Event
This event held on the Leeward Island of Bora Bora draws several thousand visitors from
overseas and throughout French Polynesia. Wearing pareu costumes and crowns of ferns, the
fishermen stand up in the bow of their flower-decorated outrigger canoes and drive a
variety of beautiful fish into a huge net held up by a human chain of spectators. The
fishermen drive the fish by beating the surface of the lagoon with coral stones that are
tied to the end of a long rope. This celebration also includes folkloric dancing and
singing, exhibits of arts and crafts and agricultural product, ocean outrigger canoe
races. The stone-fishing ceremony on the last day is followed by a huge Tahitian evening
feast with dancing and an awards ceremony.
« Vaitepiha » Race
A pedestrian competition in the heart of Vaitepiha valley.
Night of the Tipanie Dance Ball
Organized each year by the Women’s Council of Tahiti, this event pays tribute to the
many different varieties of the Tipanier flower, also known as frangipani from the
pulmeria family and found all over these islands. During a dinner-dance, a contest is held
for the most beautiful flower head crown and the most beautiful traditional long, white
dress worn by someone in the audience.
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NOVEMBER
All Saints Day
Flower stands are set up all around the island of Tahiti on this public holiday,
with families spending the day cleaning and decorating grave sites in cemeteries in
Papeete, Faaa, Arue and Punaauia. At night, the cemeteries are lighted with candles as
families sing hymns and recite prayers for their departed loved ones.
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DECEMBER
Tiare Tahiti Day
This annual event pays tribute to Tahiti’s national flower, the fragrant white «
Gardenia Tahitensis ». Individual Tiare Tahiti flowers are presented to everyone on the
streets of downtown Papeete, in hotels and at the airport. Post offices, banks and other
offices compete for the best Tiare Tahiti decorations. A dinner and dance ball is held on
Saturday night in a hotel that has been beautifully decorated with thousands of Tiare
Tahiti flowers.
Marquesas Arts Festival
This special event exhibits Polynesian Art and Culture. Several folkloric groups are
represented on the beautiful island of Ua Pou in the Marquesas.
Christmas in Tahiti
It is summertime in Tahiti and Her Islands, and all the flowers are in bloom. The Royal
Poinciana, or flamboyant trees, acacias of all colors, the South Sea crepe myrtles, bright
Bougainvillea and frangipani are more beautiful than ever. Santa Claus ( known locally as
Père Noël ) makes his appearance several times, arriving in many different ways. Hotels
and restaurants present special menus and local entertainment during the holidays.
New Year's Eve
Hotels and restaurants in Tahiti and Her Islands go all out to make sure the ritual of
Saint- Sylvestre is properly enjoyed. Dinners for gourmets and gourmands are accompanied
by fine French champagnes and followed by very lively all-night dance balls. A
Saint-Sylvestre foot race is held during the early evening over a 7-km course
through the streets of downtown Papeete.
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