The Amazing Cultures And Festivals Of New Caledonia

A tour to New Caledonia will introduce you to the combination of the French and the Melanesian tribes. The French are divided into two groups, the French nationals, and the farmers and the Melanesians are known as the Kanaks. The Caledonian artworks can be found in the door and window frames of the dwellers. An important music festival that is held every year is a chief celebration among the members of Noumea. The Kanak flag which is composed of red, blue, and green colors are seen flying all over the country which depicts their call for independence. Basket weaving, singing, making sculptures are the common interests of the people living there.

Other than exclusive artworks the people of kanaks are also famous for their dance forms. The pilou dance is a traditional dance form among the kanaks which expresses marriage and birth stories. The Women in the regions of kanak usually wear traditional shine-length lose fitting dresses commonly known as the ‘Mother Hubbard’ dress and their main culture is to marry and become a member of the other family that belongs to her husband. The women’s of North Caledonia perform agricultural works whereas the men in the country clear the grounds. The local language used by North Caledonia members is French.

There are a wide variety of festivals that are celebrated in the state. Few of them are listed below:

One of the important events that take place in North Caledonia is the yam festival which they perform to mark the starting of the yam harvest. This festival is usually celebrated during the month of March when the yam is respected and then saved for the forefathers. During the festival priests bless the yams and then distributed to the other members of the village. On that they just because the yams are shown respect they are not cut but are broken like bread.

The giant omelette festival is usually celebrated during the Easter times when a large number of chefs accumulate and gather 7000 eggs to make a 3.5 diameter egg omelette. There is an unusual story behind this festival that is celebrated only in French-speaking countries. There was a time when the Napoleon along with his army was traveling to France and during the travel, he stopped in a town where the local people staying there offered him an omellete. He was so pleased by the taste that the next morning he asked all the villagers to gather and make a giant omelette out of all the eggs for him and all his soldiers. Since then this omelette festival has been celebrated.

There are many agricultural fairs that take place in New Caledonia. Let us take a look on few of them:

This fair is an agricultural bush fair that takes place in North Caledonia and the name of the fair is given on the name of the Bourali town. The fair is popular for the events that take place in the event. The fairs in North Caledonia last for three days but there are many things to explore. This is a perfect fair to visit and enjoy with your families and friends. Caledonian activity such as the Flying flip flop contest which is open for all the people present there. This is a must visit for every Caledonian tourists.

This is referred to as one of the tasty festivals of the smallest North Caledonia town known as Farino. This fair is dedicated to the famous bancoule worm. This fair conducts many contests for the visitors in the fair and all are permitted to take part in the contests. One of the contests is searching for the animal in the bancoulier trunk where the contestants are to find the animals by splitting the trunks because only then they will get a look of the animal and then they are asked to swallow them raw and the brave participants who are interested come forward. So it is a must to visit the fair to get all the excitements in one place.

The diverse festival and other cultural activities that take place in the country make it a perfect destination for the traditional as well as modern travel lover.