Shinju Matsuri - Broome's Festival of the Pearl, the Kimberley
Spring is the post-harvest period in the Australian pearling industry. It is the beginning of a new cycle in the life of the Pinctada maxima (‘mother of pearl’) shell that have been fished from the wild specifically for cultivation of the Australian south sea pearl.
The pearling industry has attracted people from all over the world in search of a new life and new opportunity and this influx created the culturally diverse community of Broome. Each year in September, Broome celebrates its major festival, the Shinju Matsuri or Pearl Festival. Originally a Japanese festival that occurred at the end of the diving season for the Pinctada maxima shell, it comprised a major week of feasting and celebrating to honour a successful collecting season and to farewell the spirits of those who may have lost their lives.
Prior to the 1970s, the pearl divers were predominantly Japanese. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the Japanese hard-hat divers were replaced in the most part by Australian divers. Despite these changes in the industry, the festival has continued and celebrates a successful pearl harvest as well as a productive diving season. It is a great time to sample the rare delicacy of fresh pearl meat, collected from the harvest.
Also in spring the mango trees start to blossom, and there is nothing better than eating a fresh mango straight off the tree. The Broome Mango Festival is held each November.