Pasifika Culture Alive in HB

More than 1500 bright, happy little faces gathered in Flaxmere in September, for the fifth annual Hawke’s Bay Junior Polyfest.

For the first time the festival had grown to two days, driven by the increasing number of schools wanting to be involved.

Host school Irongate School was a riot of colour and music on September 20 and 21, with groups from 22 schools, averaging 40 a group, taking to the stage to share dance from their cultures.

Each school had 15 minutes to present their traditional dance to a packed-out school hall of 400 family, friends and teachers, with about the same number gathered outside waiting to see their youngsters take their turn on stage.

Polyfest, run by HB Pasifika Group, is all about celebrating and sharing Pasifika culture with the whole community, said committee member Traci Tuimaseve.

The countries represented ranged across the islands from Samoa to Tonga including, for the first time, Fiji.

The team from Nelson Park School in Napier had one youngster from Fiji and with his teacher, who is married to a Fijian, the group put together an amazing show. “The rest of the group came from a range of different backgrounds so for the first time they were sharing in this culture, as was the audience. That is what this is all about.”

The Hawke’s Bay Junior Polyfest grew out of a national Ministry of Education funded Polynesian initiative SPACifically PACific (SPACPAC) that ran until 2015. “It was too good to let go, so in Hawke’s Bay we kept it going and it just keeps on growing.”

It was the third year that it had been hosted in Flaxmere, with a decision shortly to be made on where it would be hosted in 2019.

“It has been hosted in Napier before and maybe a school up there will put their hand up – it’s all about sharing the love.”