Julieta Tora, from Kelston Girls' College Fijian group, poses after her school's performance on the Diversity Stage at last year's PolyFest. Photo / Greg Bowker
Julieta Tora, from Kelston Girls' College Fijian group, poses after her school's performance on the Diversity Stage at last year's PolyFest. Photo / Greg Bowker
Secondary schools from around Auckland are gearing up to perform to an expected crowd of over 60,000 over four days at the world’s largest Māori and Pasifika festival.
The ASB Polyfest kicks off today at the Manukau Sports Bowl in South Auckland and runs until Saturday. The kapa haka competition takes place at the Due Drop Events Centre from April 3-5.
The festival is a significant date on the Auckland secondary school calendar, giving teens a chance to celebrate and showcase diverse cultural dances, music and traditions since it began 48 years ago.
In 2019, the festival’s last day of competition was cancelled after the deadly mosque shootings in Christchurch on March 15 that year.
Students from Baradene College perform on the Diversity Stage at last year's festival. Photo / Greg Bowker
Covid-19 took control of the world the following year, causing another cancellation, and the switch to a crowd-free, live-streamed event last year in the midst of the Omicron outbreak.
After steering Polyfest through years of interruptions, festival director Seiuli Terri Leo-Mauu can’t wait for this year’s event.
“It will be nice to return to some normality. We also have a number of schools that usually have groups performing every second year, who missed their year due to the disruptions now back after four years away from an ASB Polyfest Stage.”
181 cultural groups from 55 high schools
Spectators can look forward to performances by 181 groups from 55 schools at the Cook Islands, Diversity, Niue, Samoa and Tonga stages this week, and the Māori stage next month.
Acknowledging the participation of many performers at Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata 2023 two weeks ago, Polyfest organisers wanted to give an equal opportunity to the Polyfest kapa haka performers by splitting the event.
The PolyFest is back to normal this year. File Photo / Supplied
The Māori stage will take place from April 3-5 at Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau (formally known as Vodafone Events Centre).
The Diversity stage features cultures such as Punjabi, Tuvaluan, Hawaiian, Filipino, Mongolian, Tibetan and a fusion performance of African cultures.
In the Pacific Speech Competition, sponsored by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, students will explore topics that reflect the digital world, climate and its impact on languages, and the theme of the event.
This year’s festival theme is “Mana Motuhake”, which translates into creating one’s own destiny.
Need To Know
What: ASB PolyfestWhen: Today until Saturday March 11 for Pacific and Diverse stages, April 3-5 for kapa haka
Where: Manukau Sports Bowl for Pacific and Diverse stages, Due Drop Event Centre for kapa haka
Tickets: $5 online or $7.50 at the gate, free for children under 5
Getting there: Limited on-site parking for $5 or plan your journey on the Auckland Transport website
