Festival season is in full swing, with communities up and down the motu celebrating the cultural richness and diversity of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Throughout March, the Ministry for Pacific Peoples was proud to be part of four major Pacific festivals. These events are important spaces where we come together to honour our cultures and connect with families, young people and partners.
On 7 March, the Ministry and the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Dr Shane Reti, attended the Northland Pasifika Fusion Festival.
Now in its 11th year, the festival has grown into a regional favourite. Pacific communities from across the rohe took part, including Tuvalu, Tonga, Samoa, Niue, Kiribati, Hawai‘i, the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. Local schools and youth groups also brought extra energy through impressive performances. More than 13,000 people enjoyed the celebrations during the day.
The following week, our Southern partnerships team supported the SPACPAC Canterbury Polyfest in Christchurch. This year marked 25 years of Pacific culture, pride and youth leadership. With 24 schools taking part and a buzzing market village, Hagley Park was full of colour, music and community spirit.
Festival goers joined the team for a podcast style Talanoa on Pacific Language Weeks, culture and identity. Many also took part in the popular fofo’e fa’i green banana peeling challenge. The Ministry was also pleased to partner with Fresh Moni to promote financial capability workshops for families.
On 14 and 15 March, Western Springs came alive for Pasifika Festival. The two-day event showcased the best of Pacific music, performance, food and businesses.
Our Northern partnerships team, joined by the Centre for Pacific Languages and Vaka Tautua, promoted our language revitalisation work and the Pacific Healthy Homes Initiative in another opportunity to share important information with families in a vibrant festival setting.
Last weekend, the Ministry and the Minister were proud to support ASB Polyfest at Manukau Sports Bowl. The four-day festival is the biggest celebration of secondary school cultural performance in the country – and the world.
Up to 10,000 students performed across five cultural stages. These included the Niuean, Samoan, Tongan and Cook Islands stages, as well as a diversity stage featuring student groups representing cultures such as Chinese, Korean, Sri Lankan, Fijian and Tokelauan.
ASB Polyfest was an opportunity for us to talk to young people about the new Game On initiative, a four-year Ministry initiative in partnership with The Cause Collective, PikPok and Tupu Toa, which will support Pacific youth to turn their interest in gaming into real employment opportunities in an industry facing ongoing skill shortages.
The Ministry is also a long-time sponsor of the annual secondary schools speech competitions held on each stage. These competitions continue to support language learning and cultural pride among young people.
The festival season is not over yet. Moana Nui Festival will take place in Dunedin on 28 March, bringing Pacific talent and culture to communities in the South.
