Hot day for Pasifika's island hopping festival

Performers from the Tuvalu village at a previous Pasifika Festival at Western Springs. Photo / NZ Herald

Sunny skies and hot temperatures will welcome the huge crowd expected at today's Pasifika Festival.

Celebrating the 'eke - the Cook Islands word for octopus - this time, the festival is in its 19th year and one of Auckland's best-known events.

New stages and features are expected to draw more than the usual 250,000-strong crowd, says festival director Ole Maiava.

"We've got 12 stages this year and groups and bands coming from all parts of the Pacific."

A top brass band from Tonga and dance troupes from Hawaii and New Caledonia are among the overseas groups flying in for the festival.

"It's got food, arts, music, dancing and live tattooing - it's island hopping at its best," Mr Maiava said.

The various villages in the festival - including Aotearoa New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Fiji - will entice guests in with the crafts and foods unique to their islands.

Favourites such as the umu and hangi will be offered along with pineapple drinks, coconuts and icecream served in a watermelon.

Teams will play in a kilikiti (Samoan cricket) competition.

Mr Maiava said a new stage, dubbed the Evolution of Dance, would showcase Pacific dance through the decades.

"It will start with traditional dances, then move to contemporary Pacific dance and eventually street dance. It'll be interesting to see how the siva [traditional dance] has changed."

A free park-and-ride shuttle will run all day from Unitec's campus.