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Music & Culture Festivals in Easter Island
Tapati Rapa Nui
Rapa Nui, the most isolated inhabited island on earth: moai on the cliffs, and beneath them some of the clearest ocean water on the planet, with visibility to 60 meters.
Organized by Municipalidad de Rapa Nui, which publishes the official dates and program.
Dates & details verified against: Source ↗
Why here
Tapati Rapa Nui is the most important cultural festival in eastern Polynesia and a genuine community event rather than a staged show: for two weeks each February the island's clans back rival queen candidates through ancestral competitions, haka pei riders tobogganing volcano slopes on banana trunks at highway speed, the Tau'a Rapa Nui triathlon paddled in reed craft across the Rano Raraku crater lake, body-painting, dance, and song contests judged by the town. The 58th edition runs February 3-14, 2026. You share the island with the festival rather than buying a ticket to it, and the moai watch the whole thing.
Best months
Held annually across the first two weeks of February; the 2026 edition runs February 3-14. High-summer Polynesian weather. Most events are free and open; the constraint is the island itself, which saturates during festival weeks. There is no central ticket office; programming is published by the municipality and relayed by local operators.
Getting there & around
Fly LATAM from Santiago (SCL) to Mataveri (IPC), about 5.5 hours. Flights and lodging for early February book out six to twelve months ahead. The Rapa Nui entry form and national park ticket are required for all visitors.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Municipalidad de Rapa Nui
OrganizerThe municipality of Rapa Nui organises the Tapati Rapa Nui festival, staging the inaugural gala and the competition programme each summer.
Also good for music & culture festivals in February:
Torn between Tapati Rapa Nui and Carnaval de Luanda for February?
A plan settles it for your skill and budget, same-day.