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PASIFIKA
FESTIVAL 2006 HEADLINES ‘PASIFIKA’ MONTH |
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By Tuifa’asisina Peter Rees |
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After
experiencing an action packed month of events celebrating the
cultural diversity of New Zealand’s Pasifika community, Auckland is
already looking forward to next year.
Celebrate Pasifika, held in March, was a joint collaboration between
the Auckland, Manukau and Waitakere City councils, featuring various
sporting, cultural and business events. Headlining Celebrate
Pasifika was the 14th annual Pasifika Festival.
The festival is reputed to be the biggest free community event in
the world and it was hard to argue against this notion with a bumper
crowd of over 210,000 people flocking to the Western Springs reserve
on March 11.
From humble beginnings, the festival has grown in profile.
We are now seeing more overseas visitors and tourists drawn to the
city with the world’s biggest Pacific Island population, to
experience first hand the food, entertainment and handicrafts unique
to Pacific cultures.
Through the festival, Auckland is steadily progressing towards being
a genuine Pacific destination because of the obvious demographics
and its metropolitan nature. This was echoed by event organiser Mere
Lomaloma-Elliot, of Fijian descent.
Every year, the festival is becoming a more challenging, logistical
undertaking for the organisers.
This year there were over 60 performing groups and entertainers
distributed over eight stages. Popular Pasifika acts such as Nesian
Mystik, Sara-Jane Auva’a and Tha Feestyle (aka Kas Futialo) added
colour to the festival’s packed programme.
Over 4,000 music lovers turned up to the pre-festival concert held
the night before.
With over 350 food and craft stalls to tantalise the taste-buds and
shopper’s appetite, it’s hard not to imagine Western Springs being
transformed into a one-stop Pasifika market.
Negotiating your way around Western Springs was made easier with the
village theme concept. If your thing was black pearls you could head
down to the Cook |
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The thousands who attended the festival had no
problem finding their way around with the various villages
clearly marked signposted such as the Niue Village.
(Photo: Tuifa'asisina Peter Rees)
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graceful dancers from Tahiti know how to
attract an audience with over 200,000 spectators who attended
the Pasefika Festival 2006.
(Photo: Tuifa'asisina Peter Rees)
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The Samoa Tourism Authority dancing group
performing at the Radio 531PI stage, one of the numerous acts
and performances on the day.
(Photo: Tuifa'asisina Peter Rees) |
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Islands village where
there were plenty of good deals going.
Food lovers were spoilt for choice. The Pasifika Festival is a
paradise for island food connoisseurs. From fresh coconuts to
marinated raw fish and pisupo (corned beef), chances are your
favourites were all there. With the last of summer’s rays beating
down on the masses, pineapples filled with ice cream proved very
popular. Whoever was selling them was obviously doing good business
judging by how many people you would walk past holding one of those
delicious desserts.
Though the cultural themes are Pasifika in nature, the festival is a
melting pot of all cultures, young and old and from all walks of
life.
Associate Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, Luamanuvao Winnie
Laban, commented that the festival had the potential to become a
sustainable economic business.
The festival was a chance for New Zealand based and island based
businesses to sell their products and organisations to promote their
services.
Promoting Pacific Island businesses and exploring opportunities to
expand trade links to overseas markets was dealt with in depth at
another Celebrate Pasifika event, the inaugural Pacific Trade Expo.
The expo was held at the Pacific Telstraclear Events Centre in
Manukau, South Auckland. Bringing New Zealand and the islands closer
through trade was the objective of the expo. Among those in
attendance was Samoa’s Trade Minister, Hans Joe Keil, American Samoa
Governor Togiola Tulafono, Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, Labour MP Mark
Gosche, and New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Michael Cullen,
who officially opened the expo.
Other Celebrate Pasifika highlights included Thrive Pasifika, a
motivational seminar featuring an array of successful Pacific
Islanders speaking to participants, the Bring It: Pasifika Touch
Rugby Tournament and the opening of Sione’s Wedding, a new film
featuring many familiar Pacific Island faces on television and
radio.
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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