A Fijian peformer at Levin Adventure Park for Pasifika Day at the weekend.
A Fijian peformer at Levin Adventure Park for Pasifika Day at the weekend.
Organisers of the Pasifika Celebration Day in Levin made a brave decision to host the event at the weekend after learning that its Auckland counterpart was cancelled due to coronavirus fears.
After receiving advice from health professionals that morning, it was decided that the Levin celebrations would not present the same public health risk as the Auckland event that attracted 70,000 people.
While the Covid-19 national response was evolving, local organisers decided the Levin celebrations, attended by 1000 mostly local people, would not pose that same public health risk.
A prayer opened up proceeding for the annual Pasifika Celebration Day 2020 at Levin Adventure Park at the weekend.
Festival-goers were treated to an afternoon of Island food and entertainment representing Samoan, Kiribati, Fijian, Cook Island, Tuvalu and Tongan communities.
One of the organisers, Aleni Feagaiga, said it was a great day for the community.
"Pasifika Celebration Day is an opportunity for the Pasifika Community to celebrate who we are and our identity with our Horowhenua Community," he said.
The Kaino sisters performed a dance at Levin Adventure Park for Pasifika Celebration Day 2020.
"It's also a chance to share our beautiful food, crafts and performances. We also had many different organisations set up information booths to create some awareness and provide the community with their services and how they can access them."
"The vibe down at the park was fantastic - lots of laughter, smiling faces, which makes all the hard work the team had put into organising the event worthwhile."
Horowhenua District Councillor Victoria Kaye-Simmons and Nick Simmons at Levin Adventure Park for Pasifika Day.
Feagaiga said they were lucky to have Punialava'a and Lani Alo as their Main Act.
"They were outstanding and large crowd enjoyed listening and singing to their songs," he said.
Feagaiga said Fale Pasifika Horowhenua is a small group of volunteers who have organised Pasifika Celebration Day since it first began in 2011.
A Fijian performer at Levin Adventure Park at the weekend.
"Our first celebration day was at the Village Green then very quickly we moved it to the Adventure Park because it had grown and the Village green wasn't big enough," he said.
"The Performance stage has also had its fair share of upgrades. Initially our stage was grass then got upgraded to a stage made up of pallets."
A youngster from the crowd accepted a peace offering during a performance celebrating Fijian culture at Levin Adventure Park at the weekend.
"Fast forward a few years we are now able to provide our performers and groups with a high tech stage with sound engineers."
"We have come along way from our early days and a lot of hard work has been put in but we have also been extremely blessed with the support we have received from Council, Trusts and many local businesses and organisations."
There were smiles aplenty during stage performances.
"On behalf of the Fale Pasifika Horowhenua committee we thank those organisations and are so grateful and appreciative of your continued support."
Dance groups performed on stage at Levin Adventure for the annual Pasifika Day celebration.
There were hundreds of children at Pasifika Day at Levin Adventure Park at the weekend.
Children climb the new Tretragode 9400 at Levin Adventure Park for Pasifika Day.
There were singing and dancing groups at the Pasifika Festival at Levin Adventure Park.
