Frangipani Festival 2016

The event started on Friday with the Kinavai at the Rabaul Memorial Park followed by the canoe race and the Go Go Cola Float parade on Saturday.

The Float Parade involved more than 100 business houses parading around Rabaul town.

The festival will end today with a liturgy service to commemorate the volcanic eruptions in 1994.

Today marks 21 years since the eruption.

The organiser, Rabaul History Society has thanked the following sponsors for supporting the 2016 Frangipani Festival.

The young mother’s silent tears made tracks down her dusty face as she tightly clutched her baby to her chest with one hand while the other was clenching their small, hastily packed bag. She made her other two children hold hands and walk in front of her as they joined the throng of people who were fleeing from the spewing volcanoes.

It was the morning of September 19, 1994, when Vulcan and Tavurvur began erupting on opposite sides of the Rabaul Town harbour in East New Britain.

Held in September, this festival celebrates the survival of Rabaul after the 1994 twin volcanic eruptions that almost completely destroyed the Rabaul Township.

The festival is named after the “Frangipani flower” which was the first plant to blossom in the midst of the ashes and until today the sweet smell permeates the streets of Rabaul town.