The Fijian delegation to the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture led by the Vunivalu na Tui Kaba, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau were accorded a traditional welcome by the Fijian community in Hawaii and also hosted to dinner.
A member of the Hawaii Fijian community, Moira Williams says they have been preparing to host the delegation for the past year.
She says community leader Ratu Seru Suguturaga created a FestPAC page where they were able to coordinate all their efforts on who was doing what leading up towards tonight.
Williams says there are quite a lot of Fijians living in Hawaii, with most of them being students at the Brigham Young University (BYU).
She says while there are some students at the University of Hawaii, majority of the parents and students live in BYU.
Williams says the opening was a blast for the Fijian community as the Vou Dance Group did a great job.
She says while there was a lot of negativity on social media, the Fijian community in Hawaii enjoyed it so much.
She says it is hard to present those kinds of things like the dance as most of the group had not arrived in Hawaii but they are very proud of that.
The 13th FestPAC festivities will resume tomorrow with tattoo demonstrations at the Bishop Museum and the "Regenerating Oceania" exhibit at the Hawaii Convention Centre
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