Bridge Capital LLC is a Må’gas Galaide-level sponsor of the CNMI’s delegation to the 2024 Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture. From left, Gloriana Teuira, Jude Litulumar, Julie Duenas, Shannon Sasamoto, Alex Palacios and Maggie Sablan.
BY donating $8,000 on Wednesday, May 8, Bridge Capital LLC became a Må’gas Galaide-level sponsor of the CNMI’s delegation to the 2024 Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture or FestPac.
The donation was received by Maggie Sablan, who is in charge of the delegation’s logistics and operations, and Gloriana Teuira, the Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture director.
Julie Duenas of Bridge Capital said the donation is in line with the company’s support of local arts.
The company sponsors the CNMI’s Got Talent performing arts competition and the annual Flame Tree Art Competition for visual arts.
“Bridge Capital’s donation and participation in FestPac 2024 is definitely an extension of our continued commitment and support to the arts — the visual arts, the performing arts and the arts itself,” Duenas said. “It’s always an honor for Bridge Capital to support local culture, and arts and events and most especially the artists. We really want to showcase our artists and the talents that the CNMI has.”
Sablan said the delegation continues to solicit and accept donations from the business community.
“We’re still following up on some letters [of solicitation] that we had sent out,” she said.
The CNMI is sending performing arts, visual arts, seafaring arts, carving and weaving delegates to FestPac, the “Olympics of Pacific Arts and Culture.”
In total, the CNMI delegation numbers at 100.
Aside from artists, the CNMI is also sending two youth delegates, Shannon Sasamoto and Jude Litulumar.
Litulumar is excited to represent the CNMI and his Carolinian culture at the event.
“This is my first time [attending FestPac] and it sounds like an amazing opportunity, especially because representation really matters,” he said. “Coming from such a small community, I feel like it’s a great opportunity to branch out and share what we have with the rest of Pasifika.”
For her part, Sasamoto, the 2019 Miss Marianas, is also looking forward to connecting with the community of islanders at the event.
“We’re really excited to see how we’re able to make sure that we represent everybody that’s among the delegation,” she said. “I think there’s so many opportunities that can result from [being at FestPac]. I’m excited to see what we have exactly in store.”
Sablan said Sasamoto and Litulumar will be attending leadership and ambassadorship training sessions with other Pacific Island youth delegates.
This year’s FestPac will be held in Honolulu. The delegates are from countries and territories in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.
Sablan said the donated funds will help pay for the cost of airfare tickets, which is about $160,000 roundtrip for just the official delegation members.
Sablan said once in Hawaii, the state will take care of the delegates’ lodging, travel, and other accommodations.
“We still need about $99,000 to pay for all the tickets,” Teuira said. She expects the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation to fund some portion of the expenses. She said they have already confirmed the CNMI’s attendance.
“The coordinator side of me is thinking right now that tickets should have been paid off three months ago,” Teuira added. “I went to the point of telling Maggie…you need to ask them are they going to help us or not. So we can call it off. We won’t be penalized if we don’t go, but it will be very sad if we don’t go.”
FestPac begins on June 5 with an opening canoe ceremony.
