02 · GALLERY
Five frames.
Fest'Napuan has run every October since 1996 at Saralana Park in central Port Vila, the South Pacific's longest-running music festival. The festival's name fuses Festival with Napuan, a Tannese word for music and dance. String-band music (acoustic guitar, ukulele, tea-chest bass) is the Pacific's most underappreciated genre and Fest'Napuan is where it lives, alongside Pacific reggae, ni-Vanuatu contemporary songs, and the opening kastom (traditional) night that pulls performers from across Vanuatu's 80 islands. Free admission. Four days. Civic, indigenous-led.
The opening kastom night is the most intimate. The rest of the festival builds toward contemporary bands.
A free, civic, indigenous-led festival that has run continuously for 30 years.
Annual, four days mid-October. Wednesday opening kastom night, Thursday through Saturday main programme. The dry season makes the outdoor sessions comfortable.
Annual four-day festival, mid-October. Free admission. Programme runs from 16:00 to 23:00 each night.
Fly Port Vila (VLI). From the airport, 20 minutes by taxi to central Port Vila. Saralana Park is on the seafront in central Port Vila, walking distance from the cruise terminal.