Pacific Language Weeks

Pacific languages, cultures and identity are essential to the health, wellbeing and lifetime success of our Pacific peoples and their communities in Aotearoa. We celebrate Pacific Language Weeks each year.

Kia orana, Noa’ia, Talofa lava, Mauri, Mālō e lelei, Tālofa, Ni sa bula vinaka, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Mālō ni and warm Pacific greetings. Pacific languages, cultures and identity are essential to the health, wellbeing and lifetime success of our Pacific peoples and their communities in Aotearoa.

Pacific Language Weeks 2024: Rotuma, Samoa, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Fiji, Niue Tokelau, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.


"Across the Porirua community, we embrace learning from, and celebrating, the awesome diversity of languages and cultures that thrive here – and the Pacific Language Weeks is a great way to do just that." – Porirua Mayor, Anita Baker


Watch the latest Language Week videos

Visit our dedicated YouTube channel to watch all the latest Pacific Language Week videos.

About Language Weeks


Pacific Language Week Schedule 2024


Rotuma

rotuman.JPG

Sunday 12 May – Saturday 18 May

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 13 May, Te Rauparaha Park

A Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islands. Did you know Rotuma is a volcanic island about 465km south of Fiji?

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Noa'ia

Rotuma photos [Saint Andrew] Rotuma video [YouTube]


Samoa

Samoa - Portrait.jpg

Sunday 26 May – Saturday 1 June

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 27 May, Te Rauparaha Park

Samoa lies south of the equator, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. Did you know the largest island of Samoa is Savaìi and the most populated island is Upolu?

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language Week events.

Hello: Talofa

Samoa Language Week flag raising ceremony photos [Saint Andrew] Samoa video [YouTube]

Samoa Language Week arts event photos [Saint Andrew]


Kiribati

Kiribati - Portrait.jpg

Sunday 7 July – Saturday 13 July

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 8 July, Te Rauparaha Park

Kiribati, officially Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. Did you know there are 33 islands, 20 of which are inhabited?

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.
Kiribati Language Week photos [Saint Andrew]

Hello: Ko na mauri


Cook Islands

Cook Islands - Portrait.jpg

Sunday 4 August – Saturday 10 August

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 5 August, Te Rauparaha Park

The Cook Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, north-east of New Zealand, between French Polynesia and American Samoa. Did you know the Cook Islands is made up of 15 islands, Rarotonga being the largest?

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Kia orana

Cook Island Language Week flag raising ceremony photos [Saint Andrew]


Tonga

Tonga - Portrait.jpg

Sunday 18 August – Saturday 24 August

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 18 August, Te Rauparaha Park

Tonga is a Polynesian kingdom of more than 170 South Pacific islands, many uninhabited, most lined in white beaches and coral reefs and covered with tropical rainforest.

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Mālō e lelei

Tonga Language Week flag raising ceremony photos [Saint Andrew]

Tonga video [YouTube]


Tuvalu

Tuvalu - Portrait.jpg

Sunday 29 September – Saturday 5 October

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 29 September, Te Rauparaha Park

In the South Pacific is an independent island nation within the British Commonwealth. Its nine islands comprise small, thinly populated atolls and reef islands with palm-fringed beaches and WWII sites.

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Fakatalofa


Fiji

Fiji - Portrait.jpg

Sunday 6 October – Saturday 12 October

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 6 October, Te Rauparaha Park

Made up of more than 300 islands, Fiji is famed for rugged landscapes, palm-lined beaches and coral reefs with clear lagoons. Its major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, contain most of the population.

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Bula


Niue

Niue - Portrait.jpg

Sunday 13 October – Saturday 19 October

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 14 October, Te Rauparaha Park

Niue is a small island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. It’s known for its limestone cliffs and coral-reef dive sites. Migrating whales swim in Niue's waters between July and October.

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Fakalofa atu


Tokelau

Tokelau - Portrait.jpg

Sunday 27 October – Saturday 2 November

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 29 October, Te Rauparaha Park

Tokelau is a remote group of atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. Fakaofo has swimming pigs that famously catch fish near its coral reef

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Mālo ni!


Papua New Guinea

pacific language weeks 2024

Sunday 10 November – Saturday 16 November

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 11 November, Te Rauparaha Park

Papua New Guinea (PNG) was first settled between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago.

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Halo olaketa


Solomon Islands

pacific language weeks 2024

Sunday 24 November – Saturday 30 November

Flag raising ceremony: 8am, 25 November, Te Rauparaha Park

Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons is a country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, to the northeast of Australia.

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events.

Hello: Halo ola keta


“Language is the key to the definition of our overall Pacific wellbeing.” - Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio

Head to our Facebook Events page to see the latest Language week events for 2024.