Family is the basic unit around which most activities centre, with protocol and customs important to everyday activities and not just ceremonial occasions such as birth, marriage and death. Annual festivals, usually associated with the monarchy, are times for renewing the cultural heritage. Song and dance are just one of the many ways Tongans express their culture. Dances are vibrant and elegant, the dancers adorned in colourful costumes made from mats, shells, leaves and feathers and accompanied by the beating of home made drums. The dances, and accompanying songs, tell stories of the past and present, or celebrate an event such as the King's birthday or the Millenium.
Children learn to sing and dance from a young age, and are encouraged to perform publicly.
Tradition is also reflected in art. In the pandanus leaf mats, ranging from sturdy floor mats to the finest of soft mats to wrap a new-born baby. It is in the decorative bark cloth, ngatu, that the women prepare for ceremonial occasions. It's not unusual to hear the tap, tap, tapping as the women beat the mulberry bark into huge cloths ready for decorating with natural ochres in traditional designs. Art is also in the baskets the women weave into all shapes and sizes.