As the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture nears its final days, some attendees have expressed concern over the increased costs of Pacific merchandise within Festival Village.
In many cases, customers were charged an extra 35% per item by Pacific Island delegates on the advice of festival planners, who released a statement saying the increase would allow vendors to “cover any translation fees, Hawai‘i General Excise Tax, customs fees” and other charges.
Festival planners said the added cost is not a tax by the state or a credit card fee, but should be included to ensure vendors “are generating the amount of revenue they deserve.”
However, many delegates remain confused.
Mathew Masga, a Chamorro delegate from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), has his carvings on display at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. He said that before the CNMI delegates arrived in Hawai‘i, they were recommended various amounts to charge — ranging from 20% to 40%.
“I don’t know what is the correct percentage, but adding the tax towards FestPAC customers is making a lot of people upset and is raising eyebrows because the percentage is just unheard of,” he said.
Etena Pakieto, an artist from Niue, said the increase has been chasing customers away.
“As you can see, there’s a lot of stuff,” Pakieto said, pointing to her booth.
Some Pacific crafts can cost from $10 to over $1,000. Some of the delegates have been using only cash, credit cards, Venmo or CashApp when selling their products.
Festival planners briefed the head delegates Wednesday morning to disseminate information to the rest of the FestPAC participants.
“The most important thing with this event is to learn from each other's culture,” Masga said. “This event is not meant for money making.”
