The Agricultural Fair

August 9, 2014

Our first weekend in town they announced on the net that there would be an “agricultural fair” at the high school on Saturday, and the King of Tonga would be there.  We had no idea what an “agricultural fair” is in Tonga, but how could we skip a royalty sighting?  So, we headed out Saturday morning to see the King.  Note to self… when someone tells you the fair is at the high school it would be good to see if there is more than one high school in town.  Yes, we walked all over trying to find it, but at least we got to see more of the town and interact a bit with the locals as we asked for help.  

The fair itself was like any street fair in Hermosa Beach, for example. Vendors selling all sorts of food, handicrafts, jewelry, clothing, artwork, everything.  Including whole raw octopuses (or is it octopi?) and sharks, so maybe not quite like Hermosa Beach.  By the time we got there, though, they had shut down all the shopping for the ceremony which included speeches/prayers (in Tongan) by all sorts of important looking stately officials, including the King himself.  Afterwards, the King and his entourage walked around the shopping stalls and greeted all of his minions. We crossed the security lines a little before we were supposed to since the King was still touring around, but the security guards just watched us and didn’t stop us.  Not exactly the secret service.  We enjoyed some tasty cinnamon rolls and vanilla ice cream, and then made our way back to town.