Agricultural Fair - King and Nobles

Royal Agriculture, Fisheries, Tourism and Trade Show 2018 • Saturday

King Tupou VI

His wife, Nanasipau'u Tuku'aho 

The arrival of the King at the Agricultural Fair was impressive. An annual event where all the villages show their best wares. The farmers show their produce and animals; the fishermen their fish; and the women their handiwork. 

There was a program that lasted several hours; prayers, music, speeches, dancing, singing and presentation of awards. The King presented hundreds of awards. One of our missionary couples, the Thomsons were asked to receive the award presented to the Liahona High School farm. They were really excited. Those receiving the award would approach the King, then bow about 20 feet out, then come closer and lower their heads and bow again. They would then reach out and accept the award then back away about 20 feet and bow again and turn and walk away. It was really interesting to watch the love and respect they have for their King.

Here are a few pictures from one of the dances performed for the King.  The dress is very formal and represents different parts of Tongan life.

After the program the King and Queen walked around the Fair and viewed all the products that the villagers had brought. No one purchases anything until after the King has seen it. Once he passes then the villagers can sell their food and crafts.

We could always tell where the King and Queen were by the black umbrellas. Each of them have a tall soldier holding the umbrella for them. The sun is very bright here and shade is always preferred.

The King and Queen stopped at every booth and visited. I was really impressed with them. They were very friendly and happy and we could feel the love the people have for them. The Queen did her own thing stayed longer at the booths that interested her.  It was so fun to watch her interact with the people.

They are wearing black with large mats as a sign of mourning. A wife of one of the nobles recently passed away. They are showing their love and respect by how they dress. They mourn for several months. So black is a common sight on the island.

The pictures make it appear that there is no one at the fair but the King and Nobles and those in the booths. The military quietly keeps everyone away from the King and Queen and the people seem to know the distance they need to stay. Notice the woman is kneeling as she visits with the Queen. The Nobles and their wives follow the King and Queen.

In one area the women have laid tapa cloth and woven mats on the ground for the King and Nobles to walk on. Tapa cloth is made from the bark of narrow Mulberry trees, just two or three inches in diameter. The women strip the inner layer of bark from these narrow stick-like trees, dry the bark in the sun, then soak it in the ocean. After that they beat it with an ike (very hard wooden mallet) on a wooden tutua (wooden anvil). The beaten strips get about 7 or 8 inches wide, then they place them side by side and beat them together so the attach. They layer the tapa with strips going perpendicular and glue them together with a glue made from the tapioca root. They will make very large tapa cloths and paint designs on them with natural dyes (red, brown and black). As we drive around the villages, we can hear women pounding on the bark to make tapa cloth. The woven mats at all hand cut and hand woven. It is absolutely amazing what they do. Since yarn has been introduced to the island the women will often add yarn to the finished woven mats. They are really beautiful.

It took several hours for them to walk all around, it's a very large fair with lots of villages and displays. We spent the whole day there. It was amazing to see. We really enjoyed the day.