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Calendar of Events for Tahiti & Her Islands

JANUARY

New Years's Day
This public holiday is celebrated throughout Tahiti and Her Islands. A long-standing custom is the “Tahitian Bringue,” with guitars and ukuleles, locals drive around the island, visiting friends and relatives. Everyone enjoys singing, dancing and of course eating! On most islands, you will find children’s games are held in town.

Chinese New Year
Tahiti’s Chinese Community welcomes in the Chinese New Year with fireworks, traditional dances, martial arts, food stands and painting & calligraphy demonstrations. The festivites begin with a opening ceremony at the Papeete town Hall. This is followed by a beauty pageant dinner-dance, where the Spring Festival Queen is elected. Most of the 4-day celebration is held at the Chinese Temple in the Mamao area of Papeete. Red candles, incense and symbolic money are burned. Speeches are made and prayers are recited for prosperity and good health during the coming year. Entertainment includes special singers and dancers brought to Tahiti from Asia.

Tu'Aro Ma'Ohi
The best local athletes participate in qualifying games for the Heiva Tu'Aro Ma'Ohi which is held in July.

FEBRUARY

St. Valentine’s Day
Tahiti is known as the “Island of Love” and I think all agree there is no more romantic place on earth to celebrate this holiday of love. There are clebrations throughout Tahiti and many of her Islands.

MARCH

3 Week Celebration of Polynesian Cultural Traditions
This special time pays tribute to many of the ancient Polynesian traditions. Demonstrations of such as tattooing, basket-weaving, the making of flower crowns and the practice of local medicine (Ra’au Tahiti) & the art of treating illness through body massage will be presented daily at Place Vaiete next to the Port of Papeete.

Tu'Aro Ma'Ohi
A continuation of qualifying games for the Heiva Tu'Aro Ma'Ohi to be held in July

The Coming of the Gospel
The Protestant Church on Tahiti and Moorea will be celebrate the 19th annual public holiday honoring the arrival of the first Christian missionaries 198 years ago. The celebration involves colorful church services followed by special performances, which re-enact missionaries arrival. The largest performance is held at the Willy Bambridge Stadium in the Tipairui section of Papeete, and on Moorea, at the outdoor stadium in Afareaitu.

APRIL

Polynesian Sports Festival
This special occasion is devoted to the demonstration of such traditional Polynesian sports events as fruit-carrier races, javelin-throwing, outrigger canoe races and other events closely linked to ancient Polynesian tradition.

Billabong Tahiti Pro Surfing Trials
The Air Tahiti Nui Trails are located in the world famous surfing locale of Teahupoo on Tahiti’s west coast. Local surfers are invited to compete with the best surfers in the world during the trials.

MAY

Billabong Tahiti Pro Surfing Tournament
The quiet village of Teahupoo on Tahiti’s west coast becomes home to one of the worldd’s premier surf events. Here, surfers face one of the most respected reef waves in the world. The size of the waves have earned the site the moniker "Jaws of Water."

Ukulele Festival
The Ukulele Festival is held in Tahiti where Ukulele musical entertainment takes place in several places in downtown along with other traditional instruments.

Arearea I Tahiti Games
These inter-island games are held on the island of Tahiti.

Commemoration of the Arrival of the Bounty
Held on Tubai in the Austral Islands.

JUNE

Miss Tahiti and Miss Heiva I Tahiti Contest
This is the oldest and most prestigious of all the many beauty pagents held throughout Tahiti and Her Islands each year. The winner becomes a roving ambassador for Tahiti, participating in the Miss France Contest and and several other international beauty contests.

Miss Dragon Queen Beauty Contest
The Chinese community’s most prestigious beauty pageant is the annual elecction of Miss Dragon. A variety of Chinese entertainment, from singing and dancing to martial art demonstrations, highlight the evening.

Day of the Tahitian Fern (Le Maire)
“Le Maire” is a sacred and beautiful fern Tahitians use to make flower crowns. The special occasion includes an exhibit of the many varieties of ferns found in Tahiti. The celebration ends with a Tahitian banquet and dance at an hotel beautifully decorated with ferns for the occasion.

Visit of Tahiti's Natural Sites
As part of the World Environment Day, visits are organized to many of the island’s spectacular natural sites. Participants discover Tahiti’s abundant variety of plants, her many waterfalls, beautiful beaches, refreshing grottos, ancient maraes and the famous Arahoho Blowhole;

World Environment Day
An entire day of exhibits, films and shows with singing and dancing is held at the historic Venus Point in Mahina on Tahiti’s north coast. This special day promotes environmental awareness program throughout Tahiti and Her Islands. Guided tours are organized into such beautiful interiors as the Fautaua, Papenoo and Lake Vahiria Valleys and to the top of one of the island’s most famous mountains “l’Aorai.”

International Tahiti Black Pearl Festival
This 4-day event pays tribute to Tahiti’s most famous export, the cultured black pearl. Jewelers, jewelry boutiques and pearl farms join together to promote the Tahitian pearl and the beautiful jewelry made with it. There are three different exhibits, including one of international pearl jewelry. There are black pearl jewelry fashion shows and a gala culminating with the election of the Pearl Queen.

Internal Autonomy Day
June 29th
This public holiday celebrates the anniversary of the French statute adopted in1984 which granted Tahiti increased self-governing powers. The primary celebration is a large parade with some 3,000 participants including the newly crowned Miss Tahiti and Miss Heiva I Tahiti. This day also signals the start of the annual Heiva I Tahiti.

JULY

July-October: Humpback Whale Season
Humpback Whale season. These incredible mammals migrate from Antartica to mate and give birth.

Anual Heiva I Tahiti
The largest cultural festival in all of Tahiti takes place at To'ata Square along Papeete’s waterfront. The Heiva features dance competitions, sporting event and cultural demonstrations. Visitors come from all over the world to enjoy this month long celebration.

In addition to the dancing and singing among professional and amateur groups, other traditional highlights of the festival include outrigger canoe races in Papeete’s harbor, a special from of javelin-throwing where contestents aim for a coconut, fruit-carrier races through the streets of Papeete, a copra-making contest, stone-lifting competition and also a contest of hat-making.

There is an arts & crafts village with daily exhibits, demonstrations and entertainment. There is a country fair atmosphere created by the amusement rides and colorful stands known as the “baraques de la Fête Foraine.”

Firewalking Ceremony
This ancient ceremony attracts a large crowd of spectators as Tahitians call upon their ancient gods for protection as they walk across hot lava stones that have been heated by fire for several hours before the start of this spectacular event.

The French Bastille Day
July 14th
The oldest of all public holidays in Tahiti, this is the French equivalent of the U.S. Fourth of July. The day begins with a military parade in downtown Papeete and ends with a public dance ball that continues until dawn.

AUGUST

The Mini-Festival
After the month-long Heiva Festiva in July, it’s now time for the popular 9-night mini-festival. This festival takes the best dancing and singing groups from the Heiva Festival, where they now get to dance for fun various hotels in Moorea, Bora Bora & Tahiti.

The Annual “Aito” Marathon Outrigger Canoe Races
The women’s race covers a distance of 20 km (12.4 miles) while the men’s race is 25 km (15.5 miles) long. These grueling races take place in Matavai Bay at Venus Point on Tahiti’s north coast commune of Mahina.

SEPTEMBER

Annual Flower Show
This annual flower show organised by the Harrison Smith Association as a tribute to Harold Willard Smith -- American physics professor who became a South Pacific botanist. He devoted a modest fortune to enriching Tahiti’s inherent tropical flora with hundreds of specimens of plants, fruit trees and flowers from around the word. Smith chose Tahiti’s south coast district of Papeari for his home and garden, creating what today is the Harrison Smith Botanical Garden adjacent to the Gauguin Museum. The annual flower show, which takes place in downtown Papeete, is open to the public.

Taapuna Pro Surf Competition
Located just 15-minutes from downtown Papeete, local and foreign surfers compete in 6-8 foot barrel waves at the famous reef called “Taapuna.”

OCTOBER

Super "Aito" Individual Canoe Race (Moorea-Tahiti)
Tahiti’s best outrigger racers compete in this inter-island competition.

Hawaiki Nui Va'a
This international Outrigger Canoe Race begins on the island of Huahine and continues to Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora. Over 100 teams from countries all over the world participate in this grueling open-ocean race.

Carnival de Tahiti
Patterned after Rio's famous Carnival, visitors are encouraged to participate in this celebration, which has all of Papeete dancing to Polynesian and international rhythms. The Parade takes place on the Papeete waterfront and has around 15,000 participants.

Night of the Tipanie Dance Ball
Organized each year by the Women’s Council of Tahiti, this event pays tribute to the many different varieties of the Tipanier flower, also known as frangipani from the pulmeria family and found all over these islands. A special dinner dance is organized and a contest is held for the most beautiful crown of flowers and the most beautiful traditional long, white dress worn by someone in the audience.

NOVEMBER

All Saints Day
This is a national holiday and flower stands are set up all around the islands with families spending the day cleaning and decorating gravesites. At night, the cemeteries are lighted with candles as families sing hymns and recite prayers for their departed loved ones.

DECEMBER

Tiare Tahiti Day
This annual event pays tribute to Tahiti’s national flower, the fragrant white “Gardenia Tahitensis.” Individual Tiare Tahiti flowers are presented to everyone on the streets of downtown Papeete, in hotels and at the airport. Post offices, banks and other offices compete for the best Tiare Tahiti decorations. A dinner and dance is held on Saturday night in a hotel that has been beautifully decorated with thousands of Tiare Tahiti flowers.

Christmas in Tahiti and Her Islands
Hotels and restaurants offer special menus and entertainment. Santa Claus known locally as Père Noël makes his appearance throught the islands.

New Year's Eve
Hotels and restaurants go all out to make sure the ritual of Saint Sylvestre is properly enjoyed. Gourmet dinners are accompanied by fine French champagnes and followed by lively all-night dancing. A Saint Sylvestre 7-km foot race is held early evening on the streets of downtown Papeete.

Dates and events are subject to change.