In 1976 two sixth-form students at Hillary College in Otara challenged to three other Auckland schools to a performance competition - a celebration of their different cultures.
It was small but a big success - the competition, held on a makeshift stage on Hillary's sports field, was won by Mangere College. Boaz Raela, one of those organisers, thought it was just a one-off.
Yet in 10 days' time, the 40th ASB Polyfest will feature more than 60 schools in a four-day festival - with around 10,000 students performing on six stages before an audience of up to 100,000. It's become the largest Pacific Island cultural performance festival in the world - and a symbol of the growing diversity of Auckland, the largest Pacific city on the globe.
The event's original purpose was to maintain dance and other traditions among young Polynesian and Maori. This year's festival at the Manukau Sports Bowl will feature Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island, Niuean and Maori performances, as well as a diversity stage with cultural groups from Fiji, Tokelau, China, Korea and India.
"The whole idea is students coming together, enjoying one's culture and appreciating other cultures These [festivals] are the sorts of things that unite us," Cook Island-born Raela said, when he returned to the festival three decades later, tutoring Takapuna Grammar School's Maori performance group.
