As part of the We Are Samoa Festival, the Polynesian Cultural Center is hosting the 32nd annual World Fireknife Championships.
Fireknife dancers from Hawai‘i, Samoa, Tahiti, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Australia and Japan will converge for a week of competition.
The junior and intermediate competition takes place on May 7, while the women's competition takes place on May 14.
The men's competition begins on May 13 with the qualifying round, with preliminaries set for the 14th. The competition culminates with the finals on May 15.
"There's a lot of people involved and it's always worthwhile when we see those who come to compete and their skill level," Delsa Moe, vice president of Cultural Presentations at the Polynesian Cultural Center, told Aloha State Daily. "It's obvious they've been working at it a long time, and this is their opportunity to pit themselves against the world's best to see where their skill level lies."
To Moe and the rest of the organizers of the event, having the competition take place at the PCC in Lā‘ie is an enriching and educational experience for everyone involved.
"It's highly significant for many of our competitors. Many are not Samoan, which is where this sport originated from," Moe said. "By having them participate, it gives us the opportunity to share the cultural origins of this and help them understand its significance and importance, so that they're not just doing motions, but they understand its cultural relevance. And many of them have done that.
"It's actually a real weapon and it was only as recently as the 1940s that fire was added to it. That aspect of it is fairly contemporary."
In addition to the fireknife championships, the We Are Samoa High School Arts Festival involves students from Campbell, Kapolei, Kahuku, Radford, Nanakuli, Saint Louis and King's Siva Academy in Brisbane, Australia. Students will participate in a variety of traditional cultural practices, which include coconut husking, fire making, basket weaving, dance and interpretation.
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
