Saturday, 20 September 2026 – Lakatoro, Malekula:
The Maskelynes Canoe Race Festival 2026 was held on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 July in the Maskelyne Islands off the southern tip of Malekula. The event was organised by the South Malekula Tourism Sub-Association under its Chairperson, Mr. Kalo Nathaniel, with the support of the Department of Tourism through its Malampa Tourism Office, and drew 23 visitors, 17 from yachts anchored in the islands and six who travelled by air.
The festival had been scheduled to open on 21 July, but rough seas kept the canoes ashore on the first day and the organisers ran the full programme over the following two days. The Maskelynes are one of the most popular yacht anchorages on the Malekula coast during the July cruising season, and the festival is built around the yachts that gather there.
Outrigger racing and island life
The heart of the festival is racing in traditional outrigger canoes, the craft the people of the Maskelynes still build and paddle every day. Races were run in separate categories for men, women and youth, with the schedule set around the tides of the lagoon. Between the races, members of the Sub-Association hosted visitors on village walks and mangrove tours, demonstrated weaving and traditional food preparation, and offered a kava demonstration and tasting. Lunch and refreshments were included in the visitor programme, and the festival closed with the community and its guests together on the dance ground.
A South Malekula circuit takes shape
Six of the visitors who flew in for the Canoe Race continued to the Lamap Annual Cultural Festival at Port Sandwich the following week, combining the two events into a single South Malekula itinerary. The Department of Tourism sees this as the beginning of a South Malekula festival circuit for yachts and air travellers alike, and will work with the organisers of both events to schedule and promote them together from 2027.
Community-led tourism in Malampa
The Maskelynes Canoe Race is exactly the kind of event we want to see across Malampa: owned by the community, built on a living tradition and priced so that the festival can stand on its own feet,” Director of the Department of Tourism, Mr. Paul Pio, said. “The Department of Tourism supports this festival as part of our commitment to destination development, cultural tourism and yachting tourism in Malampa Province. Our task now is to help the Sub-Association find sponsors, produce fresh marketing content and package the Canoe Race with the Lamap festival so that more visitors make the journey to South Malekula next year.”
Malampa Tourism Manager Ms. Rollyne Liu thanked Mr. Nathaniel and the members of the South Malekula Tourism Sub-Association, the paddlers and their families, and the visiting yachts for their part in the festival, and encouraged communities across South Malekula to bring their own activities into the 2027 programme.
The Maskelynes Canoe Race Festival is one of a growing calendar of community-based cultural events on Malekula supported by the Department of Tourism, alongside the Lamap Annual Cultural Festival at Port Sandwich, the Nalawan Annual Cultural Festival at South West Bay, the Walla Cultural Heritage Festival in North East Malekula and the Malekula Canoe Festival scheduled for 22 to 24 December 2026. The Department’s support is provided under the Vanuatu Tourism Recovery and Resilience Programme (VTRRP) 2026, which aims to diversify the national tourism product beyond Efate, distribute tourism benefits to rural and outer island communities and rebuild visitor demand through a credible calendar of authentic cultural events.