Polyfest 2023: Festival continues with kapa haka competition this week

By Candice Luke, Multimedia reporter

NZ Herald·

2 Apr, 2023 05:00 PM2 mins to read

Ngā Puna o Waiōrea, the 2022 Polyfest Māori Stage champs. Photo / Ngā Puna o Waiōrea

Kapa haka takes the Polyfest stage from today in Manukau as the biggest Māori and Pacific festival for secondary schools in the world celebrates its 48th anniversary.

After years of disruptions, the first round of the iconic inaugural festival welcomed students and spectators back to the event’s home at the Manukau Sports Bowl in March.

Tens of thousands in attendance enjoyed four days of diverse, vibrant traditions from around the world, displayed through song, dance, traditional clothing and food.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins even joined in the festivities, gracing the Samoan stage with a siva alongside the Labour Pāsifika Caucus and students from Papatoetoe High School.

But this year, the Māori stage was split off in a bid to give groups time to refocus and prepare after the success of Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata 2023 in February.

Te Matatini 2023 winners Te Whānau a Apanui.

Event director Seiuli Terri Leo-Mauu told RNZ: “A lot of our secondary school students probably were helping to volunteer at Te Matatini, or they were supporting their family [who] were performing on stage, and then a lot of our judges from our Māori stage were also taking part at Te Matatini.”

There is also a change of venue to the Due Drop Events Centre, formerly known as the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau.

Image 1 of 17: Massey High School's Tahitian group are ready to perform on the Diversity Stage. NZ Herald Photo by Alex Burton 08 March 2023

The three-day event kicks off with a 7am flag-raising today, followed by Division Three performances throughout the day until the prize-giving at 5pm.

Division Two groups perform tomorrow, and Division One wraps up Polyfest 2023 on Wednesday afternoon.

Ngā Puna o Waiōrea are back to defend their Division One crown after taking out the coveted title in 2021 and last year, which was the first time in Polyfest history that the event was online-only, without crowds, in alignment with the Government’s setting of a ‘red traffic light’ status, part of its Covid-19 Protection Framework.