Matari'i i Ni'a 2026 — celebrations in Vāvau (Bora Bora)
Every November — annual recurring event
Each year, at the rising of the Pleiades on the eastern horizon at sunset, Polynesian societies celebrated Matari'i i Ni'a — literally "the Pleiades above" — the beginning of the season of abundance. This eight-month period was traditionally devoted to harvests, generous fishing, gatherings and offerings.
Since 2025, Matari'i i Ni'a is an official public holiday in French Polynesia — an institutional recognition of the importance of this māʻohi (indigenous Polynesian) lunar calendar in the living culture of the islands.
In Bora Bora, Te Fare Hiro'a nō Vāvau actively participates in revitalising this celebration every year in November. The association organises local ceremonies, exchanges with its partner associations and moments of transmission between generations.
In November 2023, members of the association participated in the celebrations of Matari'i i Ni'a in the Windward Islands — Tahiti and Moorea — as part of a week-long cultural journey, in partnership with Puna Reo No Piha'e'ina, CRIOBE, Haururu and Fa'afaite.
Matari'i i Ni'a is not a spectacle: it is a living calendar.
The annual celebration in Vāvau is open to the local community. For information on dates and programme, contact the association.