FestPAC seeks donations and volunteers to make up shortfalls

May 8—1/1

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COURTESY NICHOLAS TOMASELLO

Hawaii has participated in FestPAC since 1976. Each time, other nations have hosted Hawaii, as they did in 2012 when Hawaii visited the Solomon Islands. Now it's Hawaii's turn.

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The 13th annual Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture, or FestPAC, is less than a month away, and Hawaii still needs to raise about $3 million to $7 million and triple its volunteer base.

FestPAC, touted as the world's largest celebration of Indigenous Pacific Islanders, was launched in 1972 to use cultural exchange to halt the erosion of traditional practices. Some 2,500 delegates and their entourages from 28 Pacific island nations are expected to attend this year's FestPAC, which is themed "Ho'oulu Lahui: Regenerating Oceania." The festival, which runs June 6-16, is filled with performing arts, visual arts, heritage arts, ceremonies and protocols, and opportunities to share knowledge and build collective strengths.

Aaron J. Sala, FestPAC festival director, said festival organizations are appealing to private donors and Hawaii businesses to provide eleventh-hour monetary or in-kind donations to ensure that Hawaii meets the expectations that come with hosting the "Pacific way."

"Once a country arrives on the shores of the host, the host takes over in terms of transportation, accommodations, catering and programming," Sala said. "That's really the crux of how this festival becomes really rather an expensive endeavor, especially in a place like Hawaii."

Sala said the FestPAC Commission approved a $20 million budget for FestPAC, which was originally slated for 2020. Sala said the dates were moved to give participants time to recover from the pandemic's economic and social impacts; however, inflation during the delay has increased Hawaii's original hosting cost to $24 million.

He said some $16.8 million has been raised, including $5 million from the state Legislature and another $5 million from Gov. Josh Green's discretionary fund.

Sala said the lingering effects of COVID-19 have continued to affect fundraising. He said the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires also have taken a toll, especially since FestPAC fundraising was put on hold immediately after the fires to prevent interfering with Maui's recovery.

Sala told the Hawai'i Tourism Authority board at its April 25 meeting that "ultimately, we are going to produce the festival that we can afford to produce and host."

He later told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that cost- trimming is affecting the festival "greatly and gravely."

If additional funding does not come, Sala said, festival organizers must further limit neighbor island engagements. They also would have to consolidate transportation costs by running fewer buses and shuttles, which would mean a longer transportation process for attendees and more traffic disruptions for residents.

Sala said food costs would take the largest hit, with a reduction in the per-person meal allowance resulting in simplified meals and fewer options for food service.

"If farmers were willing to share their produce and work with us on the proteins, that would be welcome," he said. "We would also absolutely welcome corporate sponsorships to assure that we are providing three 'more than square' meals a day."

Sala said he is hopeful that enough in-kind and monetary donations are received so that festival organizers don't have to make last-minute cuts, because there is a reciprocity component to Hawaii's hosting responsibilities.

"Hawaii has never missed a festival since 1976, so this is our opportunity to give back to countries that have just given everything that they are to us when we have been with them," he said. "We want to meet our own standard of excellence."

In addition to monetary and in-kind donations, Sala said FestPAC needs up to 600 volunteers so that it can assign up to 300 volunteers to events per day. So far, he said, 200 volunteers have agreed to assist with FestPAC. He said donors and volunteers will find more information at .

Sala encouraged volunteers to sign up early so that they can complete a Hawaii-­focused training that includes learning about the etiquette of the various Pacific island cultures.

"We are the second youngest in the region; only New Zealand is younger than us. What we are trying to do is then reestablish ourselves as a nation among nations as Pacific Islanders among Pacific Islanders," he said. "But we also want to challenge the Pacific to bring us back into the fold. For that, we need all our Pacific Islanders living in the diaspora here. We need volunteers like crazy."

State Rep. Richard Onishi, who is the state House designee on the FestPAC Commission, said FestPAC is worthy of full monetary support from donors as well as the time investment that volunteers will give.

"We know people in Hawaii are very generous for a worthwhile cause, and this a worthwhile cause," Onishi said.

He added, "This is the largest Pacific event on culture and arts. This year it's going to be expanded to look at some of the issues that the 28 countries are having to deal with regarding climate and regarding international relationships.

"This is the first time that it is going to be expanded into different types of subjects and opportunities for countries to have a discussion in regards to how the Pacific is going to be handling some of these issues. It provides Hawaii, and in particular the United States, an opportunity to host all of of these countries in Hawaii."

State Rep. Sean Quinlan, who chairs the state House Committee on Tourism, said FestPAC is incredibly important to Hawaii and that Hawaii is important to FestPAC.

"It really brings me back to something (my friend) Rusty Case said to me once, which is that if you look at the planet, if you look between 20 degrees north and 20 degrees south, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and you look at the human development index in that band, it's really low across the entire world," Quinlan said. "That's why I think it's so important that we are in constant contact with other Pacific island nations, and not just from the cultural or economic standpoint, but also from the standpoint of sharing technology, sharing policies, dealing with climate change and dealing with saltwater intrusion into aquifers.

"How can we be food sustainable if we eat a Western diet, while we have got to change what we eat? What can we learn from ulu farmers in Samoa? What can they learn from us? Nearshore fisheries, aquaculture, all these things, it's so critical that we collaborate with each other."

Onishi called FestPAC the state's most important international meeting since the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit and the 2016 International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress. Both of those events cost Hawaii money but helped the state gain visitor spending and tax revenue and resulted in spinoff business that created opportunities for Hawaii to grow group business travel.

Keith Vieira, principal of KV & Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said the timing of FestPAC, which comes on the heels of the pandemic and the Maui wildfires, is advantageous to rebuilding Hawaii's group business travel.

"We are a destination that needs to be 20% group — they are much more manageable, they help give compression to the transient market and they help fills hotels primarily during the shoulder season," Vieira said.

Vieira added that with all the negative press about tourism growth, it will be important for "our Pacific Islander friends and relatives that are coming to see what Hawaii does so well and why we've been successful in tourism for so long. I think the challenge is that with the cost of everything, people's budgets are challenged and there have to be cutbacks. I hate to see it in food and beverage and transportation. But perhaps there can be some consolidation or some more sponsors, and I hope that's what happens. Nothing is more helpful to sell group (travel) than satisfied groups."

Given the high-profile nature and size of the event, Onishi said he would encourage volunteers as well as donors to join the effort.

"(Larger donors) would be named as sponsors of the event. Obviously, it provides them with an opportunity to participate in engaging with foreign countries," he said.

Onishi said generally, the event is hosted by Pacific island countries, and since Hawaii is a state, Hawaii is hosting on behalf of the U.S.

"This is the first time that the event will be held on U.S. soil," he said. "It's also one of the largest FestPACs in terms of attendance. We have participation by all 28 countries that are part of FestPAC or have been invited to come. These people want to come to Hawaii, so we should put our best effort forward."

Onishi said invitations have been extended to local and state dignitaries as well as federal dignitaries from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

"We are expecting some heads of state from different countries — both the cultural as well as actual governmental leaders," he said. "(FestPAC organizers) engaged with (President) Biden's administration. But whether or not we are going to be getting the president or the vice president to visit, they hold that kind of close to the vest. We won't know really until it is going to happen."