The Eastern Pacific - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 287

Spotlight on Tahiti's Heiva Festival
The summer of 2012 was London's Olympic summer, but half a world away, we were en-
joying spectator sports of a different type. Who needs Track and Field when you can cheer
competitors in events like Fruit Basket Races, Stone Lifting, or Coconut Husking? At
Tahiti's annual Heiva festival, tickets are cheap to free, audiences enthusiastic (but every-
one gets front row views), and at break time, you can refresh yourself with coconut ice
cream or passion fruit soda. Ah, the South Pacific!
Each July, cruisers pack the marinas, mooring fields, and anchorages in Tahiti's protected
lagoon, drawn as much by the festival as the alluring landscape and excellent ship services.
Over the 130-year history of the Heiva, the festival eventually expanded from its roots in
song and dance to showcase traditional sports as well. And so it was that we found
ourselves cheering va'a (outrigger canoe) races against a stunning tropical backdrop, then
checking the schedule for Grimper au Cocotier (Coconut Tree Climbing) - between check-
ing the rigging and repairing the anchor windlass, that is.
A Polynesian twist on a familiar event is the team javelin competition, in which parti-
cipants aim for a coconut at the top of a thirty-foot pole. The team with the most hits after
seven hectic minutes wins, and the best athletes are immediately whisked aside for inter-
views on local television. Meanwhile, the crowd shifts excitedly over to the Stone Lifting
venue, settling in the grass to watch competitors in several weight classes heave a
160-pound boulder to their shoulders in a race against the clock.
Another highlight is team coconut husking, in which three-person teams speed-husk 150
coconuts. It's a wild scene with the crowd cheering, coconut milk splashing, empty husks
flying, and chunks of white copra piling ever higher. The athletes in each of these events -
men and women - are a sight themselves, dressed in colorful pareus (sarong-like wraps)
and lush leafy headwear, with swirling tattoos on shoulders, legs, backs - even faces. For
us, it was also a chance to witness the normally serene, unhurried Polynesians move into
high gear!