Tauranga Multicultural Festival going ahead this weekend after Christchurch mosque shooting postponement

A Chinese folk dance group at last year's Multicultural Festival. Photo / Andrew Warner

The Tauranga Multicultural Festival will go ahead this Saturday.

The festival, in its 20th year, was due to happen last Saturday but was postponed in response to the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch on Friday.

Multicultural Tauranga president Ann Kerewaro said the festival would go ahead at the same time and in the same place "as if [the attacks] never happened".

"We want to do it for everybody. To celebrate diversity and not be put down."

She said the decision to postpone had not been made lightly but was necessary after the police had to pull out.

The police had said they would be there this weekend, she said, providing security as well as a community stall.

Kerewaro said the event would be safe and there was no need for people to be nervous to come.

She hoped members of Tauranga's Muslim community would be able to be part of the festivities as planned.

She understood the performers were all still in, as were most of the food trucks and stallholders.

The festival traditionally includes performances by various cultural groups as well as a large selection of culinary delights from around the world.

Tauranga Multicultural Festival

- Saturday, March 23
- Historic Village, 17th Avenue
- From 10am.