Otago Polyfest 2023: Celebrating 30 years of Māori and Pasifika children’s ‘beautiful cultures’

A Pacific group from Otago Girls' and Boys' High Schools perform at the 2022 Otago Polyfest.

Otago Polyfest will celebrate its 30th anniversary this September.

One of the oldest festivals in the country celebrating Māori and Pasifika culture, Otago Polyfest draws in upwards of 160 schools and more than 6000 performers.

“Since its beginning in 1993, the Otago Polyfest has been a significant annual cultural event for Otago early learning services, schools, high schools and whānau, encouraging participation, inclusion and positive cross-cultural relationships,” organisers Te Mana Āhua Ake Trust said this week.

At its core, the festival is about giving young Māori and Pasifika children “a platform to celebrate their beautiful cultures”, a past festival director has said.

Otago Girls' and Boys' High Schools kapa haka group Wairua Pūhou performing at the 2022 Otago Polyfest.

The 30th-anniversary celebrations will run from Monday, September 11 to Saturday, September 16.

“The trust warmly invites friends, whānau, kaiako and members of the public to save these dates and join in the anniversary celebrations by supporting all our tamariki and rangatahi, from Ōamaru to Kaitangata, taking the stage at the MoreFM Arena” in Dunedin.

A Fenwick School Pasifika group perform at the 2022 Otago Polyfest.

The festival, which aims to promote te reo Māori and Pacific languages, began as an afternoon of performances by a few Dunedin primary schools 30 years ago, and is now a significant cultural event for Otago schools and whānau.