MINUTES OF THE COMMISSION ON THE 13TH FESTIVAL OF
PACIFIC ARTS & CULTURE (FestPAC) MEETINGMONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2024 AT 03:00 P.M.
HYBRID VIA ZOOM
Commission Members Present were:
Jamie Lum, Chair
Shanty Asher
Casey Brown
Snowbird Bento
Maka Casson-Fisher
Sen. Jarrett Keohokāhole
Māpuana de Silva-Department of Business, Economic Development,and Tourism (DBEDT)City & County of Honolulu
Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)
Community
Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA)
Hawaiʻi State Senate
Community Member At-Large

Elise Amemiya-Office of the Attorney GeneralApologies:
Kalani Ka‘anā‘anā, Chair
Stacy Ferreira
Makana McClellan
Rep. Richard Onishi-Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Governor’s Designee
Hawai‘i State House of Representatives

Staff:CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Jaime Lum (Chair) at 03:05 p.m., who welcomed
everyone present via ZOOM.
WEHENA
Chair Lum called upon Commission Member Asher to provide the wehena (opening).
Commissioner Asher presented a student film from UH West O’ahu that centered on core values
being the most major pillars of a beloved community. Commissioner Asher highlighted a major
focus for the festival (FestPAC) event was to revitalize and inspire our Pacific Islander youths
that feel distanced or disconnected from their heritage and ancestry.
ATTENDANCE
Chair conducted the roll-call attendance. Chair Lum, Commissioner Asher, Commissioner
Bento, Commissioner Brown on behalf of OHA, Commissioner Keohokālole, and Commissioner
Casson-Fisher present on behalf of HTA. Commissioner de Silva joined at 3:15pm. Chair KalaniKa‘anā‘anā, Commissioners McClellan, Commissioner Onishi were both excused.

Minutes of the Commission on the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture
Monday, February 26, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Page 2 of 4Deputy AG Amemiya was also present via Zoom.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY ON AGENDA ITEMSNo testimony was received in advance of the day’s meeting. The chair invited members of thepublic to testify on the agenda items.
REPORT ON PERMITTED INTERACTIONS, PURSUANT TO ACT 103, SESSIONLAWS OF HAWAIʻI 2021 The Administrative Committee and the Venue and Programming
Committee had both met since the last Commission Meeting date. The Chair then continued withthe next agenda item.
APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 12th, 2024 MEETING MINUTES
The minutes were previously distributed and reviewed by Commissioners. Chair Lum requested
a motion to adopt the February 12, 2024 minutes. Commissioner Bento motioned, and it wasSeconded by Commissioner Keohokālole. With no additional discussion, Chair conducted a rollcall vote. Chair Lum, Commissioner Casson-Fisher on behalf of HTA, Commissioner Asher,Commissioner Bento, Commissioner Brown on behalf of OHA, Commissioner Keohokālole, andCommissioner de Silva voted in favor of approving the unamended minutes of the February 12th2024 meeting. Motion carried.
PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION REGARDING THE FESTIVAL
DIRECTOR’S REPORTAgenda item deferred to next meeting as Festival Director Salā, Chair Ka‘anā‘anā, andCommissioner Ferreira were visiting Fiji for the Traditional Leaders Summit event.
PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION REGARDING ADMINISTRATIVECOMMITTEE
Chair Lum shared that the Administrative Committee met on Thursday, February 20th. Several
items were brought to the committee’s attention by the Festival Provider including riskmanagement regarding the magnitude of this event, as well as developing a possible code ofconduct for our delegates, health waivers, and assumption of risk and release will be discussedwith the Attorney General.
Intellectual property was another topic of interest and protection. Chair stated that Gravitas
Pasifika is currently in the process of drafting a policy for future layered protection regarding
their IP.
Chair mentioned additional matters brought to AG’s attention regarding IP were stated to havebeen presented to Gravitas, as they have begun drafting a policy to present to the Deputy AG,Admin Committee, and eventually back to commission.
The next topic Chair discussed pertained to unlicensed practitioners. In particular, traditional
tattoo artists- as they are not licensed by our Department of Health. She stated as SPC’s directive
has been, that actual artists can only work on those within their own delegation. Chair then askedof Senator Keohokālole to reaffirm if there was a statute that covered Native Hawaiian
practitioners in certain areas, that they would receive protection for their practices. Senator

Minutes of the Commission on the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture
Monday, February 26, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Page 3 of 4

Keohokālole called upon the Deputy AG to speak more to protections, and affirmed traditional
cultural practices of Native Hawaiians are protected by the constitution. Deputy AG Amemiya
added she would look more into this area to provide additional context.
Chair Lum brought to everyone’s attention that the venues have each been spoken to, putting
agreements in-place. Regarding housing FestPAC attendees, an agreement is currently in-place
between DBEDT and the University of Hawai’i and is under review. Additional venues
mentioned were the athletics department at the University of Hawai’i Manoa Campus, as well as
the Stan Sheriff Center for the opening, ecumenical service, and closing ceremonies. Chair
expressed that she expects another agreement would have to be entered between DBEDT and theUniversity.
To Chair’s understanding, in Mid-March that Architects Hawaiʻi would be building a prototype
to make sure that they have the materials and provisions to build Hale, or wooden houses, foreach of the delegations for the festival village. Chair mentioned our provider, Gravitas Pasifika,
is looking into providing venues and creative spaces for delegates to socialize and share with one
another in the evenings after the festival events.
Chair then discussed upcoming media and broadcasting communications. Hawaiʻi Governor Josh
Green’s communications team intends to assist with the accreditation of media that registers forthe festival event, expressing gratitude to Commissioner McClellan and the team at theGovernor’s office. Hawaiʻi at minimum would be providing broadcasts of the opening ceremony,closing ceremony, and ecumenical service via arrival ceremony, and the festival village.
Regarding the commission’s decision to keep the delegate count to 100 persons- for each of thedelegations coming, the committee has affirmed the decision to limit guests to 100 persons
maximum as there have been many requests.
No further discussion and no actions taken by the Commission on this agenda item. Chair Lum
moved to the next agenda item.
PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION REGARDING VENUES AND
PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE UPDATE
Chair invited the Venues and Programming Committee to share. Commissioner Bento sharedthat Pua Sterling of Gravitas Pasifika provided updates in their last meeting surrounding the useof the Stan Sheriff Center for ceremonial events. Commissioner Bento then stated Representative
Onishi brought up they have gone into formal conversations between different state departments
such as traffic and security emergency services. Commissioner Bento continued thatCommissioner Asher, during this discussion, was tasked with following up with questions
regarding the coordination of all city and county related inquiries. Time was then turned over toGravitas Pasifika for their updates. Commissioner Bento then shared that programming needs
should be solidified soon, and if there were any other areas her committee could support, to bringthem to her attention as the festival event fast approaches.
Hearing no questions by the Commission on this agenda item, Chair moved on to the nextagenda item

Minutes of the Commission on the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture
Monday, February 26, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Page 4 of 4

PUBLIC TESTIMONY ON AGENDA ITEMS
Chair Lum invited public testimony.
Mikki-Tae Tapara of Aotearoa (New Zealand) then shared testimony on behalf of Aotearoa; “We
acknowledge the programming team providing information for the list of venues andperformance spaces. We have spent a lot of time discussing about some of the performing
spaces, especially the traditional performing spaces. We are feeling a bit reluctant to put our[cultural demonstrations] onto stages located in shopping malls outdoors along Waikikibandstands or main streets. Respectfully, Aotearoa will probably turn down opportunities toperform in these types of spaces. We want to protect our IP [...]. The main focus of our
traditional performances is to share with the other countries and traditional performers ratherthan to tourists. In absence of an IP plan, this is our stance for Aotearoa. Know there is no
disrespect to the host. But we would like to advise this to the commissioners. Kia ora tatou.”
Chair Lum then shared their statement would be taken under advisement, and thanked Mikki-Tae
Tapara for sharing his concerns. No further comments were made by the commissioners.
Chair Lum then invited any other members of the public that wished to give testimony orcomments to come forward, to which no further comments were made.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chair announced that the next meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 11th at 3:00pm via
Zoom, with wehena (opening) by Commissioner Bento.

Hearing no further announcements, the Chair asked for unanimous consent to adjourn themeeting, at 3:33PM
Respectfully Submitted,

Jamie Lum
ChairDateFestPAC Commission Meetings 2024
Meetings 3:00pm – 4:00pm (Unless Otherwise Noted)

Meeting Date

Zoom Link

Wehena Kuleana

1st Quarter
01/08/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88442786926

Senate Designee

01/30/2024 at 2p

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83150987075

HTA Designee

02/12/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86297522228

Festival Director

02/26/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82937408302

C&C Designee

03/18/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81597278055

At-Large (de Silva)

03/25/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89779421828

At-Large (Bento)

2nd Quarter
04/15/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85082676277

House Designee

04/29/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85715423400

Governor’s Designee

05/13/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83078090156

DBEDT Designee

05/27/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86176152457

OHA Designee

06/03/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81918609898

Festival Director

3rd Quarter
07/01/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86199368541

C&C Designee

07/15/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85702405000

At-Large (Bento)

08/05/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85852084018

At-Large (de Silva)

09/09/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81886638616

Senate Designee

4th Quarter10/07/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84338718760

House Designee

11/04/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85484776312HTA Designee

12/2/2024

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81204450954

OHA Designee

Indicates a Quarterly Meeting 3:00pm - 5:30pm – In person attendance is highly recommended.
Meeting will be held in Ka‘ahumanu Boardroom A, Parking Level of the Hawai‘i Convention Center.

As of March 18, 2024

Festival Director Report
Aaron J. Salā, PhD
18 March 2024

Order of Report• Fundraising Activity• Program and Content• Logistics and Operations• Marketing and Promotion• Community Engagement
Photography by Nicholas Tomasello
11th FestPAC – Solomon Islands 2012

Fundraising Activity• Office of Hawaiian Affairs• Kamehameha Schools• Hawaiian Airlines• Private Funders/Philanthropists• 3 private-hosted April engagements• HCF hosted
Photography by Nicholas Tomasello
11th FestPAC – Solomon Islands 2012

Program and Content• Updated Invitations• Updates to Program One-Pagers• Program Lead contacts• Program Overview and Logistics• Nā Hana Pākuʻi Programs• Traditional Leaders Convening
Photography by Nick DeWolf
1st FestPAC – Fiji 1972

Logistics and Operations• Delegation Count: 2,312• Head of Delegation Meetings• Q&A Session 1 (02/22)• Town Hall 2 (02/29)• Q&A Session 2 (03/07)• Digital Platform – deployment in March• Delegation Registration• Volunteer Registration• Media Registration
Photography by Nick DeWolf
1st FestPAC – Fiji 1972

Marketing and Promotion• OHA Press Conference (03/06)• Tourism Day at the Capitol (03/08)• Website updates• Programs• Team• Sponsors• Network Meetings (HNN, KHON, KITV)
Photography by Nicholas Tomasello
11th FestPAC – Solomon Islands 2012Community Engagement• Community Liaison – Tolua Samifua• Community Town Halls• Volunteer• Delegation Liaisons• Community Support• Code of Conduct

Photography by Nicholas Tomasello
11th FestPAC – Solomon Islands 2012

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