When you come into Suva – either by sea, or on the Queen’s Road after a drive along the coast, or on Edinburgh Drive on your way from Nausori Airport – the market is one of the first reminders that this is a cosmopolitan town. With its vendors and their wares from different cultures, it is not only Suva’s major food supplier and a means of livelihood for thousands of people, but is also a celebration – a six-day fair.

Located in the heart of Suva’s Thurston Gardens, the Fiji Museum holds a remarkable collection, which includes archaeological material dating back 3,700 years and cultural objects representing both Fiji’s indigenous inhabitants and the other communities that have settled in the island group over the past 200 years. The Museum is a statutory body governed by the Fiji Museum Act and the Preservation of Objects of Archaeological and Palaeontological Interest Act. The idea for a museum to display and preserve traditional Fijian culture was first discussed in 1904. Later that year Sir William Allardyce presented his collection to the Suva Town Board, and it was displayed in the Town Hall.