A float parade to celebrate this year’s Teuila Festival brought smiles and laughter to the people of Salelesi at the weekend.

The parade was held on Saturday and was part of a three-day event hosted by the village of Salelesi on the northeast coast of Upolu island.

The theme for the three-day event is “Salelesi Lalelei [Beautiful Salelesi]" with the Salelesi village mayor, Savea Taitoe, indicating that their programme started on Sunday in the previous week through a church service.

The second day of the celebrations was last Friday which featured the performance of Samoan traditional songs and dances by the villagers.

“We had discussed with the committee on whether we should celebrate the Teuila Festival after agreeing unanimously, it took two weeks to prepare and organise our event,” he told the Samoa Observer.

He also acknowledged their village’s women and girls especially the fa’afafine community for their talents also contributing in decorating and also planning our event.

“I am well aware that our country did not celebrate the Teuila Festival like the previous years, this was one of the reasons why decided host our own three-day event.

“This event not only has great significance in terms of promoting our Samoan culture and traditional values but it has also brought our village together from the young to the elderly as one community.

“Our celebration also involved a pageant of six young men and women each competing.”

Savea said that they also had a crowd of people from the villages of Fusi and Eva who attended and saw their programmes and it meant a lot for them to attend.

“I believe that this event is not important but also has great meaning to us, it connects the sons and daughters of Salelesi in harmony to promote peace within our community.

“It is evident through the excitement and happiness displayed by the elderly women and men of our village through dancing on Friday night.

“With the impacts of the COVID-19 globally and locally, this is one way of boosting the morale and spirits our people, we are now entering into the second year of the global pandemic which has changed the way how we live with the rest of the world.”

He said they have received calls our people living overseas extending well wishes and saying they wish they had the freedom we have in Samoa and also wanted to be here and celebrate with us.

“We are not a big village compared to neighbouring villages and our population is less than 600 people, I guess this is also an advantage for us to make it easier to organise programmes."

The Salelesi village mayor also said that Samoa is blessed because the people are always praying for the country as a whole.

This year’s annual Teuila Festival featured a number of events from the 29 August – 4 September. However, the Samoa Tourism Authority having a scaled-back the event due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and the continued closure of Samoa’s borders to keep the country safe. 

Some of the events at the festival included the 2-3 September monthly waterfront market in association with the Samoa Hotels Association at the Samoa Cultural Village in Apia. 

The open market attracted hundreds of people to the event which featured a range of stalls selling food and crafts, live entertainment and activities for children. 

This year’s Miss Samoa Pageant has also been postponed to 2022 with the current Miss Samoa, Fonoifafo Seumanu McFarland continuing her reign.  

Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa said during the official opening ceremony of the festival that in 1991 it was an event that has over the years flourished to become among the biggest of its kind in the South Pacific.

“The event was set-up to draw Samoa’s sons and daughters living abroad to the motherland to reconnect with the ancestral home of their mothers and fathers," said the Prime Minister.

“And in doing so, help support the rise of Samoa’s tourism industry and economy after having been severely impacted by natural disasters at the time. 

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Teuila Festival had grown into a widely followed and highly anticipated cultural celebration and it was not uncommon for other events including locally-hosted regional and international meetings and conferences to run parallel with the Festival, and thus provide an immersive Samoan experience for visitors to our shores.”

She said that the festival, whose roots are enshrined in the country's faasamoa or Samoan way of life, is a celebration of the Samoan brand.

“The festival is a pivotal platform and an acknowledgement of our diverse and talented dancers, musicians, choreographers and artisans to name a few," she said.

“Despite the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, Government recognises the importance of the Teuila Festival and its uninterrupted continuation as a key national event, especially in terms of supporting domestic tourism initiatives and lifting spirits and building excitement.

“Due to COVID and the absence of our international visitors including family and friends who would normally be here at this time of the year, the festival programme has been adjusted accordingly.

“Let us continue to pray for our heavenly fathers’ blessings and protection over our beloved Samoa."