The first Annual Tisa’s Tattoo Festival was established in 1993 by Tisa, celebrating the Past, Present and Future of the Samoan Tatau. The Festival is held at Alega village each year in October. It was one art of the Samoans that they could not part with, against its banning, by missionaries in the 1830s. It took an act of bravery and patience, to revive this amazing skin art, which was the pride of Samoan culture. Seven years before the end of 1900s, the Tatau nearly became extinct with loss of declining generations. Tisa found it necessary to revive the Tatau. She hosted the first ever, Tatau festival in 1993, which sparked the revival of the Tatau movement in the Samoan islands and throughout Polynesia. Today, the tatau has become the symbol of Samoan identity and is proudly worn by Samoans for culture purpose and by non-Samoans to share a new phenomenon of Samoan Tatau skin art around the world.  Traditional Tattoo artists are still practicing this fine art today and they continue to use handmade tattooing tools as was done by their ancestors, centuries ago. To participate or join the celebration, mark your calendar for the October 26, 27, 28, & 29, 2017, and join the fest.

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