Pasifika Festival is just around the corner with the first of three weekends of festival activities set to begin this Saturday.
The inaugural Pasifika Village Games gets the ball rolling with a multi-sport tournament at Bruce Pulman Park on Saturday 4 March. Social teams will compete in touch rugby or netball across the day.
Throughout the tournament, free family-friendly entertainment will fill the day with the sights and sounds of Pasifika – from kapa haka performances and live R&B tunes to DJs and free inflatable rides for kids. Kai stands with soul food like hangi, chop suey, barbecue and coconut ice cream will fuel the tournament.
The next of the new events is Pasifika Soul Sessions, warming up Pasifika Festival’s long-time venue Western Springs Park for the first time since 2019. The day-long free music festival boasts a line-up of spectacular Pasifika artists, including Tomorrow People, Adeaze and Brotherhood Musiq. With yet more delicious Pacific fare on offer, it’s set to be a day of tunes, food, and good times for all.
Finally, the full Pasifika Festival will return to Western Springs Park from 18 – 19 March. The much-anticipated festival features more than 400 traditional and contemporary performances across the two-day event.
Attendees will experience art, entertainment, food and more from eight different villages, representing the cultures of 11 Pacific Island nations. This year’s festival includes villages from Aotearoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu, Niue, Samoa, Tonga. The villages of Hawai’i, Tahiti, Kiribati and Tokelau will be in the combined Fale Pasifika.
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Head of Major Events, Chris Simpson, says the return of an extended festival with new and additional events is exciting.
“Cultural festivals are a keystone of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s vibrancy. We’re the largest Polynesian city in the world so the Pasifika Festival is significant to the region.
“The extended Festival over three weekends brings together everything we love about Pasifika – from otai (watermelon fruit drink) to siva afi (Samoan fire dancing), there'll be lots to see and do that celebrates the Pacific cultures that make Auckland such a great place.”
Head to aucklandnz.com/Pasifika for more details about the festival.