This was a mini-arts festival hosted by Wanur village, at the southern tip of the island of Pentecost, that took place from the 30th August until the 1st of September 2005. The holding of the arts festival was prompted by the realisation among young people that many of the community's traditions and traditional cultural practices were being neglected and, as a result, the knowledge of them was not being transmitted to younger generations. Accordingly, the Wanur Youth Association took the initiative to plan and host this festival, the first arts festival ever to be held in south Pentecost for speakers of the Sa language (who live in south Pentecost). It was held during the two-week school holidays so that children could participate and observe and learn some of these traditions.
Activities included: traditional games (demonstrated by school kids who had learnt them in school), craft demonstrations (weaving mats and penis-wrappers, carving bows and arrow, dying mats, making a traditional house, planting taro), traditional cooking styles and recipes (including food preservation and alternative foods which could be eaten after a hurricane - one of which was a certain kind of edible clay), sand drawing and magic demonstrations.
It was mainly the community of Wanur village that participated in the festival, with participants also coming from Point Cross, the eastern ("big sea") side of Pentecost and also Ramputor.
A highlight of the festival were performances by Wanur's very own Salma string band and the pulling of a new canoe hull from the bush to the sea and its launching - all accompanied by traditional songs and dancing.
The Cultural Centre was able to record audio, audiovisual and photo images from the festival.
