Fever pitch excitement in the Cook Islands

Transcript

Excitement in the Cook Islands has hit fever pitch as the country prepares for its annual celebration of self-governance. 

Te Maeva Nui is a week long event which celebrates nationhood, self governance, and independence.

This year's theme is celebrating family, village, and tribe, and will include a parade, market days and drum and dance competitions.  

Our correspondent Florence Syme-Buchanan told Daniela Maoate-Cox rehearsals have been going non-stop for the past three weeks. 

The festival includes the national day on August 4th and will end on August 6th. 

FLORENCE SYME-BUCHANAN: We've got all these vaka on Rarotonga, the three vaka who have been busy practising and rehearsing for the festival which kicks off on Sunday evening with the ute which is a traditional chanting type singing and the choir and then all next week will be the competition of just a feast of cultural shows and dancing and singing. It's going to be spectacular as usual and every year, the standard improves, it just gets better and better as each year goes by because each year is given a different theme and the theme this year focuses on the family, the village, the tribe, and all these villages that are participating, including our sister islands, teams from our sister islands have been composing songs and choreographing shows according to the theme that has been set by the Ministry of Cultural Development. 

DANIELA MAOATE-COX: Last year was a big celebration for the 50th anniversary, can we expect much difference this year?

FSB: Well it is toned down in that there won't be the dignitaries from overseas that came from all over the Pacific and New Zealand and Australia for our celebration, there won't be those dignitaries here, but the dancing will be no different, our shows, our cultural feasts will be no different, the standard will be just the same and our auditorium, the national auditorium will still be packed out with people here to participate. Speaking from a personal perspective, two members of my family, my husband and my daughter are participating in Te Maeva Nui and for the past three weeks, they've been practicing every night and having rehearsals and it's been quite a frenzied time for our family so to speak.

DMC: I imagine that might be the case for everyone else who's participating as well, a lot of rehearsals?

FSB: A lot of rehearsals, you drive through the villages here on Rarotonga and you can hear the drums, you can hear the singing, you can hear the chanting because everyone's been rehearsing so hard for this and you know the fever is starting to reach pitch levels, you know, reach the mercury, it's just going to be such an exciting time.

DMC: Will politics be discussed at all throughout this week?

FSB: No, this is a time in this country when politics are put to the side and the country comes together in celebration of self-governance and celebration of the time that we took off the shackles of colonialism and started taking care of our own affairs and politics will take a back-step and everybody will just focus on this festival and having a good time, you know the fever is starting to reach pitch levels, you know reach the mercury, it's just going to be such an exciting time.

The festival includes the national day on August 4th and will end on August 6th.