LapLap is a traditional food from Vanuatu, still made with traditional tools and cooked in the traditional way. The dish is a delicious starchy food, almost bread-like in our diet, often served with mains but just as mouth-watering when smothered in home-made coconut milk.
LapLap is made with Manioc, a locally-grown white, fleshy root vegetable – which comes from the market in a plastic-free palm basket. The grated vegetable is then mixed with the homemade coconut to form a paste. The dish is wrapped in banana leaves, tied together with the stalks, and cooked on a fire with the coconut husks and heated stones from the nearby river.
The traditional dish is often mixed with island spinach, chicken, or fish, but we love it fresh. LapLap is a beautiful dish, which totally depicts the waste-free, traditional, community lifestyle of Vanuatu. It’s highly nutritious and ridiculously delicious, so come and visit the happiest tropical island in the world and give it a taste!
Take a look at the attached Impact Statement to see some of the charities FMS has helped over the past year.
Events try to make themselves accessible and welcoming to people with health problems and disabilities. With a bit of thought and planning, many potential difficulties can be overcome. Here are a few things to consider:
Bring with you enough of your medication to last till you get home
Check the advice on our Prescribed Medicines page
Bear in mind that festival sites can be difficult to get around at the best of times and pretty well impossible in bad weather if your mobility is poor
Many events have a Disabilities Coordinator, who will be able to advise you on any special provisions made
If you have a complicated medical history, it will be really helpful if you bring a summary with you (your doctor’s surgery may let you have a print-out)
Let us know if you have to carry out any special procedures to keep well – we may be able to provide facilities and assistance
We do not believe a festival site is a suitable place for childbirth, or indeed for very young babies
FMS does not provide midwifery services and will advise getting you to the nearest hospital if you go into labour
If you have recently undergone surgery, ask your GP or hospital for advice about any special precautions to take and whether it is a good idea to go
Bring supplies of dressings with you. We can change these for you but may not have the particular ones you need
Festival sites are not sterile! Bear this in mind if your condition makes you particularly prone to infection
FMS cannot provide special toilet or washing facilities.
