A month of festive extravaganzas

By Chris Peteru

As a lead-in to the South Pacific Arts Festival, is the annual Teuila Festival, named after the national flower of the Islands.

Teuila (traditionally known as Avapui) was also the name of the wife of the Islands’ most famous visitor, author Robert Louis Stevenson, who spent his last days in Western Samoa before being laid to rest atop Mout Vaea, just outside the capi tal, Apia. This year’s spectacle promises to deliver even more bang when the festival starts at the beginning of the month.

“We want to show visitors what is good about our Fa’a Samoa (Samoan way) and why they should come back and bring their friends with them. So, be here,” smiles Tourism Minister Tuilaepa Malielegaoi. The action will be spectacular both on land and on water. Traditional fire dancing contests will be held where performers twirl one - and frequently two - flaming war knives around their bodies and into the sky. Forty-foot-long boats, powered by crews of up to 30 men, will slash their way through Apia Harboour to try and win glory for their villages.

A yacht regatta and canoe sprints are also happening.

Samoan cricket - the national game - will be on show with the best village teams going all out. Faster than conventional cricket, with bowling at both ends and an automatic out for not swinging at the ball, the result is a game played with a frenzied

intensity. While cricket is the national game, rugby union is the national passion. Thirty teams from around the country are gearing up for the inaugural “King of Hill” 15-a-side rugby tournament. “It’s based on the concept that there can only be one champion,” says organiser and former Manu Samoa flanker Harry Schuster. As the first opportunity for teams from urban and local areas to clash, some great rocket-fueled rugby is in store at Apia Park.

Anyone in a musical mood could find some solace after tak ing in singing from the scores of church choirs and brass bands which abound throughout a country where song and dance are second nature.

Showcasing the beauty and talent of Pacific women is the Le Tausala Samoa and Teuila Festival Queen that will be held at the Kitano Tusitala Hotel on the final evening as a climax to the week. Despite the modest character of Samoans, they are not averse to encouraging their loved ones into beauty contests.

The standards of the contestants in both presentation and char acter has been uniformly high.

Four categories - sarong, evening and day wear and a sec tion featuring garments using traditional materials by local fashion designers - will be featured. This year, up to 20 con testants will compete for the title. The winner will represent the country in the Miss South Pacific pageant. ■