Friday was the opening ceremony of our annual cultural festivities the 'Heiva i Rurutu', for the first time I was involved in the opening parade, as a member of the Tourist Committee. It was a fun little moment of island pride, with an odd jumble of participants - the local associations were out in force, the kid's football associations, the Pandanus weavers and the very noisy Moto-cross and quad bikers, the mayor's office workers (all in matching attire, above) and a drive-by of the new communal heavy machinery!
Then there were the three village's dance troupes with their decorated chariots.
There was the raising of the flags headed by the chief of police and an original version of the Marseillaise played on Tahitian drums, by Moerai's dance troupe, all kitted out in ti-leaf costumes. My girls, who'd never miss a party, came along, dressed up to the nines in their new fairy and ballerina costumes - Matotea was nonplussed when she was not allowed to join me in the parade.
Tama, our friend and the local dentist from Tubuai, took some great photos of the girls as well as the
opening of the craft tent, here my mother-in-law shows off her wares.
In the evening there was the annual fireworks display, Heimana slept through the whole thing last year, but this year she was completely enchanted.......
Tomorrow we welcome August onto the scene, so today we say goodbye to July with all its cultural festivities. The heiva was stretched out for a full extra week and a half this year, with re-plays of the dance shows, in an attempt to ring up a bit of extra trade. The general feeling being that things were pretty quiet this year, and it's true there did seem to be less visitors (tourists and locals) around this year, which is sad because the dance shows were really very impressive this time, here are a few parting shots that Mato took of Moerai's dance performance......
