Pasifika innovations to build on festival success

Pasifika 2005 opened last night with a concert and a competition celebrating the growing strength of popular Pacific music.

The inaugural Pacific Music Awards is one of several innovations this year. It also reflects the continuing growth of the festival as it enters its 13th year.

Pasifika, one of the premier cultural festivals in the South Pacific, promises all-day entertainment with five stages, nine cultural villages and more than 300 stalls.

The music awards is not the only first for this year's festival. There is also Off Da Hook - a hip hop dance competition featuring several top acts from around Auckland and a Pacific fashion show.

Among this year's performers are Adeaze, Dei Hamo and perennial favourites Nesian Mystik.

The usual sights, sounds and flavours from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa and Tonga will hijack Auckland's Western Springs park and stadium for the day.

It's free entry as always and, for those who did not make it last night, selected acts will be screened throughout the day.