Tahiti’s Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa, a part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., will honor the fifth anniversary of its 2002 opening with a month-long Celebration of the Arts. A first for French Polynesia, the festival will present local and international artists from a variety of fields. The international program will feature writer Erica Jong, Academy Award nominated actress Angela Bassett, jazz musicians Hubert and Ronnie Laws, and National Geographic photographer Karen Kamauski.
The Polynesian oriented program will feature a fine arts exhibit of works by Tahitian artists as well as local arts such as pareo painting, wood carving, a quilt exhibit, and dance presentations. Chef Stephane LeGrand will prepare special menus for the celebration.
Entertainment will include movies such as South Pacific, Castaway, and Mutiny on the Bounty screened at night on the beach, as well as opening and closing night galas. The traditional sports of outrigger canoe races, tossing boulders, and throwing spears will be represented in the Polynesian Olympics events. Self-decoration in the form of both permanent and non-permanent Polynesian tattoos will be available from a traditional Tahitian tattoo parlor.
Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa has a history of firsts starting with its opening as French Polynesia’s first all-suite resort. The resort also had the first full-service spa on Bora Bora, the first floating lobby, and the first half-mile long (.8 kilometers) white sand beach at a resort, along with the largest infinity pool in French Polynesia.
The Bora Bora Nui was the first luxury resort incorporating local handcrafted products into the design. The resort has locally thatched roofs and uses tapa cloth, which is made by pounding fibers from the breadfruit tree. Tahitian black pearl shells make up the chandeliers.
The hillside location of the Nui, overlooking a scared cove, is home to 120 large and luxurious bungalows, with sizes up to 1,500 square feet (140 square meters). This year the resort launched the first package giving grandparents a free bungalow with the booking of two other bungalows. Next year resort will offer a Family Villa Bungalow with three bedrooms and two stories, another first.
Visit http://www.boraboranui.com/anniversaryevents for the complete Celebration of the Arts event calendar. For reservations, visit http://www.starwoodtahiti.com, contact a travel professional, or call 800-782-9488.
