Bishop Museum is partnering with the Pacific Islands Development Program and the East-West Center to host the 2023 Celebrate Micronesia Festival today.
This year’s theme is centered around the resilience of Micronesian communities. It will feature two panels on topics including racial equity, youth resilience, migration and advocacy, while showcasing traditional and contemporary art, dance, poetry, food, music and more.
“Micronesia is such a diverse place, and many people in Hawaii and the rest of the United States do not know the history, the geography, the values, the cultural arts and traditions of people from Micronesia,” said Mary Hattori, the director of the Pacific Islands Development Program. “This festival is one way for people to learn more about who we are, where we’re from and why we’re here.”
Although this year will mark the fifth Celebrate Micronesia Festival to be held at Bishop Museum, the first was held in 2014, and it has continued to be an annual event nearly every year since, Hattori said. Its initial programs included exhibits of Micronesian art and film, and it has since expanded to become a much larger celebration.
This year’s theme was decided after considering the state of Micronesian communities coming out of the pandemic, Hattori said. Despite being an at-risk population, many emerged from the ordeal stronger than before.
Some of the emerging groups will be featured at today’s festival, such as a group of Marshallese weavers who will be teaching plate, basket and floor mat weaving, Hattori said. Six fashion pieces, flown in from Palau by a contemporary Palauan fashion designer and businesswoman, will be modeled on stage by members of Hawaii’s Palauan community. There also will be two canoes on display at the event, both of which were carved by Placito, the son of Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug.
Many of the featured events also will demonstrate Micronesians’ affinity for sustainable practices, Hattori said.
“The kinship we have with the environment, with the ocean and with the land — our being is connected to that,” she said. “Our indigenous knowledge and our indigenous sciences can help Hawaii and other places deal with threats of climate change.”
The festival’s various cultural demonstrations and activities will highlight practices from the people of the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Guam, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Kiribati and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
It is expected to be the largest Celebrate Micronesia Festival yet, with both in- person and livestream attendance options, and organizers hoping for about a thousand in-person attendees this year, Hattori said.
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Festival information
>> When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today
>> Tickets: Those who are interested in attending in-person may purchase tickets at bishop museum.org/tickets.
>> Online: Those who would like to attend virtually can find the livestream at face book.com/Celebrate Micronesia.
Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
