If it’s July, it’s Heiva Festival month in Tahiti, a stunning celebration of ancient Polynesian culture, song, dance, and sports known as the Polynesian Olympics. Over 140 years old, it originated in 1881 and is the longest-running and most important cultural event in the Pacific. Yet it is little known outside. The Tahitian word means to assemble. And assemble the people do.
Tahiti and her sister islands make up French Polynesia, a collectivity of France with a population of about 285,000. On the map, they are merely a speck in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. But up close, its 118 islands and atolls make up five archipelagos. Together, including the water, they are the size of Europe. Dancers, musicians, and athletes from around the islands as well as international participants train rigorously for the prestigious Heiva.
