Yap Day 2024: A Vibrant Celebration of Micronesian Culture and Heritage in the Village of Makiy

(January 19, 2024) – Yap Visitors Bureau, Yap, FSM): The 54^th Annual Yap Day celebrations, one of the premier and largest cultural events in all of Micronesia, will be held on February 29 and March 1, 2024. Hosted this year in the village of Makiy in Gagil municipality, this two-day  event will showcase and celebrate everything Yapese – traditions, culture, heritage, food, family, and community.

The festivities will once again kick off with the traditional conch shell blowing and presentation of stone money. Then throughout the two days there will be the various colourful standing and sitting traditional dances by male and female groups from the communities of Maap, Rumung, Rumuu, Rull and Gagil.  There will also be ongoing presentations and demonstrations of local crafts, food, drinks and other traditional items by the Yap and Outer Islands Women’s Associations, Historical Preservation Office, Marine Resources and the Agriculture and Land Grant Department.

Traditional dance by Men’s Group

Other activities will include traditional skills competitions, recognition of essay contest winners, displays of ceremonial dress and traditional tattoos, log pulling, free style performances and guided visits to the nearby Mangyol stone money bank and the dwarf forests.

On February 28^th and March 2, the days prior to and after the Yap Day Celebrations, the Yap Visitors Bureau will be organising special tours for visitors and residents. These will include a Rumung Island Tour to view the largest stone money on Yap, a Tamilyog Trail hike with birdwatching, and a half day island tour to view important cultural, historical and Word World War II sites.