Pacific Arts Festival organizing committee Q&As with business
by Fili Sagapolutele
Samoa News Correspondent
The organizing committee for the 10th Pacific Arts Festival met Wednesday night with about 60 members of the business community, who were briefed on current preparations and how local businesses can contribute to the regional event. Also on hand were a number of local artists from many disciplines including both traditional and contemporary art forms.
Held at the Tradewinds Hotel, the meeting was organized by the local Chamber of Commerce, and a video presentation, entitled "Rewarding Partnerships", provided an overview of what the festival is all about.
Committee co-chair Fagafaga Daniel Langkilde told the gathering that the "committee's work is right on track, and things are coming together just nicely."
The festival runs from July 20-Aug. 2, 2008.
"We are just under eight months away from when the festival begins, and very soon a lot of the planning will start to become visible to the community," he said adding that there will be no major construction needed for venues to accommodate the festival events, as facilities are already in place.
Participants will be housed at the Kanana Fou complex, Tafuna High School, Tafuna Elementary School and Tafuna ECE. VIPs, government officials, media representatives and visitors will be housed at local hotels and the committee is working on a homestay program in which visitors can stay with families in villages.
"We have stressed from the beginning that this festival is American Samoa's festival. It is not the government's. It is not the committee's," he said. "And the success of the festival will not depend on the committee. It will depend on how the community comes together to make it happen."
As for the business community and the benefit it will receive from the festival, Fagafaga pointed to some examples.
"The food to feed all the participants will be ordered directly from local vendors," he said. Breakfast and lunch will probably be all at the village cafeterias, but because everyone will be out during the day, we will probably issue lunch vouchers with a set value and let the participants buy lunch from wherever they want."
"If all goes well, local retail sales should boom during the festival with all the visitors who will be on island," he said.
ACE American Industries' general manager David Bourne asked as to what economic returns the local businesses will receive from their contributions.
Fagafaga said sponsorship is set up in tiers and each sponsor can discuss with the committee what they want in return. For example, a lot of bottled water will be provided to the more than 2,000 participants and a local company can become the official bottled water for the festival.
"Come up and discuss with us what you want and we can work with you," he added.
Bourne said the committee wants reasonable prices for various items needed for the festival but they do not see any economic return. He also said that he has a budget to prepare and information is needed in order to complete the task.
When questioned about what kind of economic impact on the territory the business community can expect from the festival, Fagafaga said there is no exact answer to the question but there will be a spin-off from the festival that will benefit the local businesses.
"As good hosts, the residual economic benefits will last a long time after the festival is over, that will help boost our tourist industry and our economy," said Fagafaga. "The business community is an integral part of this whole equation, and the festival's success will also depend on your support."
"The business community will play a major part in making this festival a success. Our working together is a MUST in order to make it work," he said and urged businesses to join the committee because a lot of help is needed in various subcommittees.
Based on his experience of the festival when hosted by the Cook Islands, Tradewinds general manager Derek Webb told the gathering that economic benefits come from the exposure and tourism generated by the event. He said many of these benefits come after the festival.
CONCERNS
Local immigration policy was one of the major concerns raised during the meeting, especially with ASG's policy of holding the passport of citizens from certain foreign countries and requiring entry permits for citizens from others.
Ethan Lake of Blue Sky Communications said that Immigration is still holding passports at the airport, and asked the committee if it could ensure that this does not happen during the festival.
Local attorney Roy J.D. Hall Jr., urged the committee to work with the government on making sure that these immigration issues are resolved as soon as possible and let countries coming here know about it.
Nu'utai Sonny Thomson, chairman of the Logistics Committee acknowledged the concern saying that the committee has met with the Immigration Office and there are plans in place to implement a special program by which all participants are processed in a special area to expedite their arrival and departure.
As to the holding of passports at the airport, Fagafaga said the committee will take this issue up with the government.
Others that attended the meeting spoke about the need for a community awareness program to be implemented soon regarding trash; increased publicity for the festival; and the problem with welcoming signs for the festival placed next to billboards dealing with domestic violence, teen pregnancy and other such messages.
OTHER ISSUES
Fagafaga said a major complaint received by the committee is that there are no visible signs that any preparations are underway. Fagafaga agreed, saying that the committee has plans to launch many of the activities after the holiday season.
He said a calendar of events has been drawn up and a lot of the pre-festival's events will be launched in January and the committee will be asking for participation from the community. He said the committee will have a telethon and radiothon and he asked the community to come out and show their support.
"While many church groups have already come forward and offered pillows and linen, we have decided to hold a pillow drive in February, where we will start from each end of the island and collect pillow donations from the community," he said.
He also said that the ASG Procurement Office is working with the U.S. General Service Administration to collect about 2,000 surplus beds from military bases and other facilities, which will cost us nothing except shipping charges.
"We have also asked hotel chains in Hawaii to start collecting their cycled out linens and donate them to the festival," he said.
Reach the reporter at fili@samoanmews.com
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