Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Local Focus: Multicultural Festival marks Race Relations Day

Gavin Ogden
By Gavin Ogden
Video Journalist, Tauranga, NZH Local Focus·Bay of Plenty Times·
15 Mar, 2023 10:05 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tauranga’s multicultural community prepares to showcase music, food and fashion.

This Saturday, the Historic Village’s cobbled streets will be filled with the diverse sights and sounds of the Tauranga Multicultural Festival.

One group preparing a special performance is the Sri Lankan Cultural Association. But it won’t just be the adults showcasing their country’s history — young Sri Lankans will do something very old.

“We’re going to perform a dance that is about ancient Sri Lankan women enjoying the harvest festival,” 9-year-old Anika Wijesinghe said.

“I like showing other people our culture. I’ve been practising the dance for a couple of weeks.”

Eight-year-old Hamish Heenatigala said dancing was a way to show locals how his country expanded.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“We’re doing an ancient Sri Lankan dance from when our ancestors did a successful hunt. It’s a part of our country.”

Nine-year-old Anika Wijesinghe is looking forward to showcasing her Sri Lankan culture through dance.
Nine-year-old Anika Wijesinghe is looking forward to showcasing her Sri Lankan culture through dance.

For the migrant community in Tauranga, the festival is an important date in their calendars.

“It helps us a lot,” Pavithra Sammani, president of the Sri Lankan Cultural Association, said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“We got so many contacts for the Sri Lankan community through Multicultural Tauranga ... It’s important because we can get to know each other’s communities. This is the first time the Sri Lankan community is attending the festival.”

Now in its 23rd year, the festival was originally created by migrants settling in the Bay of Plenty wanting to celebrate their cultures together.

Multicultural Tauranga president Premila D’Mello said: “From the get-go it’s been a vibrant and authentic celebration of culture.”

“Its numbers have grown as the population of Tauranga has grown. We’ve got a really diverse community at this point in time in Tauranga.”

D’Mello said the charity helps integrate migrants into the local community to strengthen their sense of identity.

As well as performances, food stalls and cooking demos, a special focus of this year’s festival will be on the youth.

The festival is also held to mark Race Relations Day on March 21.

This focus on the wellbeing of young migrants has led to the creation of a new youth ambassador role at the charity.

“An important part of a community is the youth,” ambassador Akash Dutta said. “I’m here to represent them and engage with them with projects such as this.”

As a local musician, Dutta will help showcase the musical side of migrant culture at the festival.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“I’ll be conducting some [Global Village] workshops from different cultures that are represented at the festival.

“These have been set up specifically to engage the young musicians of Tauranga and expose them to the wide range of musical cultures present in the Bay of Plenty,” he said.

The 23rd Multicultural Festival takes place this Saturday at the Historic Village in Tauranga.

Public Interest Journalism Fund
Public Interest Journalism Fund
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Feet first: Why two men are walking from Auckland to Te Puke

Bay of Plenty Times

New children’s series filmed in Bay of Plenty premieres this weekend

Bay of Plenty Times

Police appeal for witnesses after deadly SH1 crash near Taupō


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Feet first: Why two men are walking from Auckland to Te Puke
Bay of Plenty Times

Feet first: Why two men are walking from Auckland to Te Puke

They aim to raise awareness for mental health and support The Hub's work.

19 Jul 02:23 AM
New children’s series filmed in Bay of Plenty premieres this weekend
Bay of Plenty Times

New children’s series filmed in Bay of Plenty premieres this weekend

19 Jul 12:00 AM
Police appeal for witnesses after deadly SH1 crash near Taupō
Bay of Plenty Times

Police appeal for witnesses after deadly SH1 crash near Taupō

18 Jul 11:25 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP