Before thanksgiving weekend, my friends and I attended the celebration of the Poly Fest that took place in the Hale Aloha Courtyard. One of my friends was dancing for the Tongan halau. This event focused on dancing coming from a variety of places such as Hawai’i, Tahiti, Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, New Zealand and so on. There were also many booths that offered cultural activities from poi pounding, Kava, Samoan food sampling, haku and poi ball making, basket weaving, elei painting, and more.
While we were watching the performances, I was able to identify other Polynesian languages being spoken. However, I was not able to distinguish what particular Polynesian language was being spoken. I assumed that they were either Tongan or Samoan, but I was not completely sure. Majority of the songs that the halaus danced to were also sung in a different language. Not only did I find the performances amazing, I thought it was very interesting when people from the audience went up to the dancers and gave them money. They would shove bills into the dancers costumes. This displayed a way of a traditional custom in the Polynesian culture. I also find this similar in my Filipino culture. During wedding ceremonies, the bride and groom would dance and people would go up to them to give them money too. Sometimes, people would stick a bill in the husband or wife’s mouths and they would have to exchange it with their spouse. I really enjoyed watching all the different performances that occur throughout the Polynesian islands. This event brought together people from all ethnic groups to socialize and be accustomed to the Polynesian culture.
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