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Four evenings. Four legends. Four colors born from the myths of ancient Polynesia.
The Mini Heiva is a curated cultural experience unlike anything else in French Polynesia. Set on the sacred shores of Pointe Tata’a, with Moorea glowing on the horizon, each evening brings a Polynesian legend to life through traditional dance, chant, and ceremony. These are not stories performed on a stage. They are stories told on the very ground where they were born.
The Heiva i Tahiti is French Polynesia’s most prestigious cultural festival, celebrated every July as the archipelago’s greatest dance and song troupes compete in honor of Polynesian heritage. The Mini Heiva at InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa offers a rare, intimate window into this world: four evenings, four legends, four colors, each rooted in the landscape visible from the hotel’s own waterfront.
Moorea rising from the sea, the sacred point of Tata’a, the golden haze of Tahiti at sunset. The myths were here first. The hotel simply opened its doors to them.
The Legend of Terehe, Princess of Raiatea
Before Tahiti was an island, it was a fish.
According to ancient Polynesian mythology, the princess Terehe of Raiatea was swallowed by a great eel that transformed into Tahiti Nui, the enormous fish that became the island now known as Tahiti. The name “Tahiti-nui-mare’are’a” (Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze) holds this origin story within it: re’are’a, the Tahitian word for yellow, is the color of that golden haze, the shimmer of creation itself.
On this first evening, yellow is everywhere. In the costumes, the lighting, the energy of two troupes from Fa’a’a bringing this founding myth to life.
Performing: Amateur troupe Ātoroira’i and professional troupe Nuna’a e hau, accompanied by a traditional chant ensemble. Two troupes, one origin story, one island born from the sea.
The Legend of Pai, From Sky to Tata’a
Look toward Moorea on a clear day and find it: Mou’a Puta, the mountain pierced by a hole. That hole was not made by nature. It was made by a javelin.
According to legend, the warrior Pai hurled his spear from Pointe Tata’a, the very point where the InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa now stands. The javelin crossed the open ocean, pierced Mou’a Puta, and traveled all the way to Raiatea, leaving Pai’s footprints in its wake. Blue is the color of that crossing: the Pacific stretching between Tahiti and Moorea, between myth and horizon.
This evening, the legend is told on the same ground where Pai once stood. The mountain with a hole watches from across the water.
Performing: Amateur troupe Tamari’i Vairao and a professional company, celebrating one of the most remarkable feats in Polynesian oral tradition.
The Legend of Tafa’i and Hina
Love, in Polynesian mythology, is strong enough to defeat death.
When the hero Tafa’i returned from a long journey to find his beloved Hina gone, he refused to accept her fate. Through his devotion and his power, he brought her back to life on the shores of Pointe Tata’a. Red is the color of that love: fierce, ancient, unwilling to let go. It burns in the torches, in the costumes, in the rhythmic fury of the drums.
This evening carries the greatest emotional intensity of the four nights. The legend of Tafa’i and Hina is among the most beloved stories in Polynesian culture, and it begins and ends on the land beneath your feet.
Performing: Amateur troupe O Nounouhia no Papara and a professional company, supported by a traditional singing ensemble.
The Legend of Pointe Tata’a and the Source of Souls
The final evening asks the deepest question: what lies beyond?
In ancient Polynesian belief, Pointe Tata’a is the sacred departure point for souls leaving this world. From the source of Puna’au, also known as Vai’aitu, spirits descend into the Pō, the realm of night and shadow, before eventually ascending toward Rōhotu no’ano’a, the perfumed paradise of the afterlife. Black is the color of the Pō, of the threshold between worlds, of the mystery that Polynesian mythology honors rather than fears.
On this closing evening, fire dancers perform beneath the stars. A champion troupe is crowned. The sacred ground of Tata’a holds both the ending and the beginning of a story that has been told on these shores for centuries.
Performing: Professional troupe Toakura or O Tahiti E, with a fire dance performance and the evening’s champion announcement.
The Mini Heiva takes place on the waterfront of InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa, a five-star resort positioned on Pointe Tata’a, one of the most mythologically significant sites in all of French Polynesia. Moorea frames the horizon. The ocean extends in every direction. The legends performed here are not imported for the occasion: they were born in this precise geography, these waters, these mountains.
To attend the Mini Heiva is to experience Polynesian culture not as a spectacle, but as a place.
The Mini Heiva takes place across two consecutive weekends in July and August 2026:
• Friday, July 24, 2026 | Golden Evening | The Legend of Terehe
• Saturday, July 25, 2026 | Blue Evening | The Legend of Pai
• Friday, July 31, 2026 | Red Evening | The Legend of Tafa’i and Hina
• Saturday, August 1, 2026 | Black Evening | The Legend of Pointe Tata’a
Reservations opening soon!
This hotel is owned by Beachcomber Tahiti SAS, and operated by InterContinental Hotels Group. ©2025, Beachcomber Tahiti SAS.
