An artist teaches young girls how to create a bead lighatuttur necklace.
THE Commonwealth Jubilee, a three-day festival marking the 50th anniversary of the Covenant, opened Sunday at the Civic Center in Susupe with cultural exhibits, traditional demonstrations, and community storytelling honoring the Marianas’ living heritage.
This year’s festival is the first in a series of commemorative events leading up to March 24, 2026, the CNMI’s 50th Covenant anniversary. The three-day Commonwealth Jubilee will culminate on that date with a community celebration reflecting on the islands’ political journey and cultural resilience.
The Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States, signed in 1975 and approved by Congress in 1976, established the islands’ status as a U.S. Commonwealth, granted U.S. citizenship to CNMI residents, and defined the balance of local self-government and federal authority. It ended the islands’ status under the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and remains the blueprint for the CNMI’s political identity, cultural protections, and relationship with the United States.