Inspired by the South Pacific, tiki culture was born in 1930s America as an imaginative escape from the hardships of the Great Depression. Blending décor inspired by Pacific Islands culture with rum-soaked cocktails and a carefree style of hospitality, it offered a vibrant, tropical, escapist fantasy.
Its popularity soared after World War II, when American servicemen returned home with stories and nostalgia for the Pacific, fueling a national fascination with the romance and adventure of the South Pacific.
At the Fiji Rum & Tiki Festival, tiki culture returns home to its ancestral origins in the heart of the South Pacific. Set on the shores of Nadi Bay on the island of Viti Levu, this is more than a festival; it’s an invitation to experience the culture behind the fantasy, the craftsmanship behind the cocktails, and the community behind the hospitality.
Over two unforgettable days, guests will explore Pacific Islands’ culture through performances, storytelling, and immersive workshops complemented by rare rums and masterclasses with the world’s most celebrated tiki legends. Along the way, you’ll dance, laugh, taste, and discover the world that tiki was always reaching for.
The festival partners with local communities, cultural leaders, and environmental stewards to ensure your experience gives back—to the land, to the people, and to the stories that shaped it all.
So, if you’ve ever sipped a Mai Tai and dreamed of the islands—or if you’re simply craving something real, rare, and unforgettable—this is your call to adventure.
The fantasy was fun. Now come live the original.
The Tiki Trade Summit: Where business meets the spirit of the Pacific.
Held on the first day of the Fiji Rum & Tiki Festival, this industry-focused gathering is designed for producers, brand ambassadors, bar owners, venue managers, distributors, importers, exporters, and hospitality professionals and entrepreneurs seeking meaningful connections and new opportunities.
Whether you’re an emerging rum brand eager to gain regional visibility, a hospitality professional seeking fresh suppliers and inspiration, or an entrepreneur with a bold idea ready for market, the Tiki Trade Summit is your gateway to new opportunities.
Expect focused networking, brand showcases with trade professionals, and high-value networking in a relaxed setting designed to spark partnerships and create real business outcomes.
This isn’t just another trade show. It’s a forum for forging lasting relationships, sharing knowledge, and expanding island-inspired hospitality across the Pacific and beyond.
When tiki bars first emerged in 1930s America, rum was the spirit that fueled the fantasy. With Prohibition freshly repealed, whiskey and gin were expensive and slow to rebound. Rum, by contrast, was abundant, affordable, and easily sourced from the Caribbean, Latin America, and U.S. territories like Puerto Rico.
For Donn Beach, who opened the world’s first tiki bar in 1934, and later Trader Vic, rum was not only economical but was ideal for blending. Donn and Vic sourced rums from diverse origins. Jamaican pot stills, Cuban-style column distillates, and Demerara rums rich in character. Using these, they created layered flavor profiles that no single bottle could offer. Rum’s diversity, from high-ester funk to smooth Spanish-style lightness, made it the perfect foundation for the bold, flavorful drinks that defined tiki’s golden age.
At the Fiji Rum and Tiki Festival, we will showcase an exceptional selection of rums from globally recognized icons to rising stars across the Pacific Islands and Australia. Experience the spirit of tiki in its ancestral home.
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For nearly a century, tiki has offered a fantasy of paradise. A dream shaped by music, cocktails, carvings, and stories of faraway islands. But paradise was never just an idea. It’s real. You’ll find it here, where the ocean meets the sky in endless blues and the culture that inspired tiki is alive and thriving.
“If you can’t get to paradise, I’ll bring it to you,” Donn Beach once said. Now, for the first time, tiki returns to the place that inspired that vision.
This is Fiji. This is paradise found.
From iconic rum makers and master mixologists to cultural custodians and contemporary storytellers, this is where the next chapter of tiki is being written. The land that first sparked its flame.
Join us on the edge of the Pacific, where legends are made not by myth, but by craft, connection, and the courage to raise a glass to something greater.