Event· Fakarava· French Polynesia: Tuamotus, Marquesas, Gambier & Australs

Heiva Tuamotu Festival (Rotoava, July)

16° 3.3′ S · 145° 37.2′ W · approximate

Every July, French Polynesia's islands hold their own Heiva, and Rotoava has hosted dance troupes from across the Tuamotus for nights of drumming and 'ori under a big village enclosure. By day there are fruit-carrier races, copra-husking contests, spear-throwing at a coconut on a pole, palm-frond weaving and outrigger canoe races.

TuamotusMarquesas

Practical

What cruisers have seen: in 2003 the July Heiva for all the Tuamotus ran in Rotoava from July 29 to August 2, with dancers from 15 atolls performing every night, plus fruit races barefoot on the coral road, copra contests, javelot (spears thrown at a coconut on a pole about 50 ft high), tressage weaving, shell-jewellery stalls and outrigger races (Hacking family). In July 2008 Astra found a 2-week Heiva under way on arrival, with music and dancing in the village in the evenings; they went ashore at 7:30 pm on a Friday and stayed an extra day for it. Dates, scale and venue change from year to year, and whether Fakarava hosts a full Tuamotu-wide Heiva in a given year is not published in advance online: ask the tourism committee on the Rotoava quay (VHF 68, ctfakarava@gmail.com, open Monday to Friday 8 am to 12 pm, 2025 brief), which posts local events. Expect the Rotoava anchorage to be busy and the shops to sell out faster than usual; be respectful, ask before photographing dancers, and dinghy back in the dark with a light. Coordinate approx: placed at the Rotoava mairie (OSM); the festival venue is not mapped.

Best for

Polynesian dance and island games in the village

Season

July (verify dates locally each year)

Nearby