As with the British monarchs (who have an official birthday in June when the weather should be better for outdoor events such as the Trooping of the Colour), the birthdays of the Tongan monarchs are celebrated on July 4th, regardless of the day on which they were actually born. July 4th was the birthday of the current King's father, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, so it is presumably a coincidence that it is also Independence Day in the US.

Anyway, as a lead-up to this honored holiday (which is acknowledged by various billboards around Nuku'alofa wishing the King a Happy Birthday), Tonga enjoys a fortnight of the Heilala Festival events. This includes various sporting competitions, not so much the traditional island sports of carrying logs loaded with coconuts as we saw in French Polynesia, but things like golf, tennis, volleyball, fishing, and rugby 9s. There were Industry Competitions for the year's best: housemaid; bartender; chef; and floral arrangement. There was a talent show, a block party, and, inevitably, several rounds of talent- and outfit-shows for the Miss Heilala competition.

The three events that we made the effort to go to shore and attend were the Heilala Festival Choral Evening (Sunday evening July 2nd), the Fe'auhi Hiva Kakala (Cultural Singing Competition on Monday evening), and, of course, the Heilala Festival Float (big parade) and Family Fun-Fair on July 4th itself. It was interesting to us that singing was well represented but, unlike in French Polynesia, there were no dancing exhibitions or competitions. It is possible that these were being held in Vava'u which was where the King was actually spending this Heilala Festival and birthday. (Apparently the Minister of Tourism is from Vava'u which many, or many not, be a coincidence.)

Randall and I had decided to attend the Choral Evening because every guidebook recommends attending a Tongan church service to hear the magnificent harmonized singing. We had intended to go to the Wesleyan Centenary Church so that we could see the Royal Family as well as hear the singing until we discovered that the King had already departed for Vava'u. But, oddly, it turned out that instead of us having to go into Nuku'alofa for a church service, one came to us.



One of the ferry-loads of Tongan Catholics attending the 175th Anniversary mass on Pangaimotu

Sunday July 2nd was the 175th anniversary of the first Catholic mass to be held in Tonga, which was held a very short distance from our anchorage. Father Joseph Chevron had conducted the service on the beach under a huge banyan tree on July 2nd 1842, supposedly on Pangaimotu because the Weslyans were already established on Tongatapu. To mark this auspicious anniversary, we awoke to find two large ferry boats loaded with singing Tongans weaving their way between us and Devocean before they approached the east end of Pangaimotu. At the beach, the bow-ramps were lowered and hundreds of respectfully clad Tongans came ashore and slowly headed towards the large, freshly painted, white stone cross that marks the historic spot just above the beach. Knees and shoulders were covered, with most people wearing tupenu or vala (long wraps) with ta'ovala (mats) or kiekie (ornate waistbands). Unlike the Cook Islands, however, hats were not prevalent.



The white cross, canopies, and congregation above the Pangaimotu beach as seen from Tregoning

An altar was on the inland side of the cross and the area had been decorated with lush tropical flower arrangements, intricately woven bands of palm fronds, and a large backdrop of decorated tapa. Three canopies had been erected the day before, shading the many seats surrounding the three inland sides of the cross. By the time we arrived, however, the seats had long-since been filled and the surrounding crowds were sitting on the ground, mats, palm fronds, or logs. There was a small band and a good-sized choir and, as promised, the harmonizing voices were excellent. We listened to the singing for a while but the whole, long service including a fiery sermon by the Bishop Soane Patita Cardinal Mafi was, of course, in Tongan so we slipped away mid-service.



The Bishop delivers his sermon from the splendidly decorated altar

At the end, a large new black granite plaque was unveiled at the base of the cross, to commemorate the 175th Anniversary. It was interesting to note that the plaque was funded by the Tongan Catholic Chaplaincy of Auckland, New Zealand. The fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Tonga, in February 2015 at the age of 53, Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi was appointed by Pope Francis as the first cardinal of Tonga and the youngest member of the College of Cardinals at the time.

The strong role of religion in Tonga resulted from the influence of the European missionaries in the early 19th century. This is not only evident in the Sunday activities (or lack thereof) but is also seen in the many churches and church-affiliated schools. The latter all have uniforms, the colors of which are standard throughout the country: government primary - white and red; government secondary - maroon; Wesleyan schools - blue; Church of Tonga schools - orange; and Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints) schools - green. Other represented denominations that may have associated schools or colleges include the Catholic, Seventh Day Adventists, Anglican, and Free Church of Tonga.



The largest choir, in church gowns, at the Choral Evening

The Heilala Festival Choral Evening was held in the large, Queen Salote Memorial Hall, just south of the Royal Tombs. It was a pleasant evening walk to the hall and we had no sense of concern about walking back to the dinghy after 9 pm. The choral evening featured about a dozen "acts", each singing one or two songs. The loudspeakers were a bit loud for our taste, causing the accompanying music to drown-out some of the weaker singers. The music was especially overwhelming for us at times because we were sitting in the front behind three rows of, mostly empty, VIP seats.

Everything else was very well-organized with each act, and their required microphones, moving on and off the stage very efficiently. The stage was framed by two large screens onto one of which was projected a continuous loop of the Festival Sponsors and a Tonga Tourism publicity film. This was a little distracting at times but the close-up pictures of the singers on the other screen was very helpful and was professionally recorded and edited.



Boys in a youth choir in traditional Tonga clothes

Although the songs were all in Tongan, that did not affect their beauty, especially of the complex harmonies in the choirs. However, the announcer spoke in both Tongan and English which was very helpful, as did the Bishop who sat in a throne near the stage and gave a mid-program address. The acts ranged from a large choir in typical church robes, to youth choirs in traditional Tongan clothes, a quintet of excellent (I suspect professional) singers, and several soloists including: a blind man playing a keyboard and singing soprano; a slender mother of ten; and Bobby, a well-dressed fakaleiti (man raised as a woman) who was performing at the Heilala for his 13th year.

After enjoying a good Chinese dinner at the Emerald Hotel, we returned to the Queen Salote Memorial Hall the next evening with Marisa and Bavo for the Cultural Singing Competition. Although the stage and screens were the same, there were now three judges at a table in the front and the volume of the loudspeakers was much better. There were quite a few non-Tongan attendees in the front rows of seats but this evening nothing, other than the oft-repeated list of sponsors, was translated into English which was a little disappointing.



Judges, stage, screens, cameramen, and seated male acapella singers in the Cultural Singing Competition

Eleven groups from all over Tonga and ranging in size from 12 to 25 members were competing and, as best we could tell, they each sang the same two Tongan songs but with surprisingly different interpretations. There were only one or two women and a few boys included all evening, so it was almost all harmonizing men's voices. The groups all sat down forming several rows in a semicircle to perform, and some groups sang acapella while others had guitars and ukuleles (and even a couple of keyboards).

Although most of it seemed very formal and serious, at times the Tongan audience would start laughing loudly. Of course, we had no idea why and wondered if this was some technique to try to distract the serious-looking competitors but judging by the enthusiastic applause, it seems more likely that some clever word-play was involved. A couple of groups had young men that jumped up and danced wildly towards the end of the second song which seemed to be intended to be humorous but we rather missed the jokes.



This group of seated singers and musicians apparently included Mark Twain to the right

We chose not to stay for the final tally of scores and announcement of winners which turned out to be a reasonable decision. Other cruisers who did stay behind were none to wiser as to which groups won because only a single representative went to collect their prizes and the Tongan names were almost impossible for palangis to tell apart. We had wondered if we should have attended the Talent night or one of the Miss Heilala judging events but realizing that we would not have understood the Tongan, I think that we picked the two most appropriate events for us.



Horse rides on Nuku'alofa's waterfront with Pangaimotu and our anchorage on the middle horizon

The Parade and Family Fun Fair, however, translated into the same enjoyment regardless of language. The fun fair lined the waterfront-park and path to the east of the Royal Palace. With numerous canopies over stalls selling barbecue, kebabs, hotdogs, cupcakes, and various other snacks, we could have been at any July 4th event in the USA. The Fun Fair consisted of several inflatable, bouncy castles, pirate-ships, and slides, along with a popular horse-riding opportunity.



The parade-leading high school marching band and drum-major...Tongan-style

It seemed as though most of the population of Tongatapu was either watching or involved in the parade, with many people watching from their cars which were parked on the grass or pavement perpendicular to the road. A high school band with a striking female drum-major led the parade which took a 4-km (2.5 mile), L-shaped route from the sports stadium to the ferry dock. There followed: several floats with Miss Heilala competitors; numerous vehicles sponsored by local businesses; another marching band; some sports teams; and several groups of fakaleiti. The final vehicle was not a fire-engine (as is often traditional in small-town parades in the US) but a power-company bucket-on-a-ladder-truck that was completely covered with various colors of sparkly, tinsel garlands. And the crowd loved it all. The Tongans really do seem to know how to enjoy themselves on a day off.



A float-rider with a US flag and a big Tongan smile



Crowds line the parade route and it was not all about beautiful women (see men on the float to right)

Being a celebration of the King's birthday, we were a bit surprised that there were several groups waving American flags and obviously honoring the July 4th Independence Day of the USA. While a few US flags waved by the Peace Corps group, in their respectful Tongan attire, might have been expected, we were a bit startled to see a large Golden State Warriors flag (the San Francisco basketball team that Martha supports, who had just won the NBA Championship). There were also many stars and stripes associated with businesses that import products from the USA and, we guessed, by some of the many Tongans who have lived there at some stage. By contrast, despite injecting so much money into the Kingdom, Chinese and Japanese representatives were conspicuously absent from the parade.



Fakaleiti were also well represented in the parade although most appeared more relaxed and confident than Miss La Quinda Restaurant

By the time the parade was over, the crowd was dispersing happily through the streets of Nuku'alofa and the food stands were getting low on items for sale. The Heiva events in Pape'ete, French Polynesia, had attracted a larger number of foreign visitors, many of whom timed their visit to coincide with the national celebration of Polynesian culture. This did not appear to be the case in Tongtapu and we were starting to wonder if any tourists would be arriving from the northern hemisphere. Being July, it seemed as though the US and European schools would already be on summer vacation so where was everyone? Was Tonga just not a popular destination these days? No, what we would eventually learn was that the tourists show-up with the arrival of the mating- and calf-raising-whales, and that would be starting in earnest very soon...



The final vehicles of the parade pass under a banner wishing the King a Happy Birthday