Pasifika Festival

Pasifika is an annual celebration of Pacific cultures held in Auckland’s Western Springs park every year.
The entire park is transformed into individual villages representing the different Pacific nations. In these miniature villages performances are held, traditional foods and crafts can be purchased and a good time is guaranteed.
Nowhere else would you see such a display of all of these different Pacific cultures. Pasifika is unique, exciting and perfectly illustrates the multicultural diversity of New Zealand’s biggest city.
Tip: Make sure you arrange a meeting point so you and your friends/​family can find each other if you get separated — the park is always packed during this event and it can be easy to get lost!

What I love about Auckland as a relatively new transplant to the city is its wonderful mix of different ethnicities. This is a city that’s not afraid to stand up and say ‘yes this is who we are, now lets come together and truly celebrate our differences. And this is what the Pasifika festival really is ’ a big knock up celebration of pacific flavour and culture.
I was really excited for this festival and I was not disappointed. The day was hot and beautiful and so were the people. Exciting song and dance performances are happening all throughout the day, with over 1,500 performers over the 11 different stages. The festival has been set up into different villages that each encompasses different islands, Fiji, Rarotonga, Samoa just to name a few are all represented.
I even managed to find a lady Who makes chop suey almost as good as one of my aunties! (Man I hope she doesn’t read this)
This festival really is an explosion of taste and colour and LIFE

Today I ventured out to Western Springs to go to the annual Pasifika Festival. The vibe there was fantastic. There was a huge amount of people milling around checking out all the different stalls and stages. I was lucky enough to be performing on the Samoan stage in the afternoon. The crowd was amazing and all of the acts before us were great. There were some awesome islander dancers, a singer or two and the famous J Williams getting up there to please the crowd. The stage was running on «island time» so everything was a little late but the audience didn’t seem to care and everyone was enjoying the festivities.
Parking was a bit of a nightmare and there was a bit of traffic heading in and out but it was fairly well organised.

The 21^st birthday of the annual Auckland Pacifica festival this year brought out an magnificent crowd, with sublime weather and an array of tropical food, entertainment and neat island inspired products: spread out among the various Pacific island villages: Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Tonga.
I have been going to Pacifica for many years now, and each year I’m sure the crowd has gotten larger, the music louder, and the wait time in the lines longer. However, one thing always remains consistent the creative and stimulating live cultural performances and costumes and the fantastic sunny weather.
With four children in the troop, it was a sure task of «where is wally» at times but after eating tropical ice cream sundaes served in pineapples and drinking freshly blended pineapple and mango smoothies, and even buying our own red frangipani tree straight from the islands of Fiji — my home country, I was pretty pleased with the day.
A few of the sound systems at various stages probably lacked a sensible sound control at times, but hey as my partner said, maybe your just maturing! Haha.
If you have a love for the islands, don’t miss this tropical treat.

The annual Pasifika Festival is held over two days in the Western Springs, celebrating many of the wonderful cultures throughout the Pacific Islands. I went last year, in 2012, for the first time and loved it! It is free to enter — please, please, keep it that way! The 2013 times and dates are: 10 am — 5 pm on Saturday 9^th March, and 10 am — 4 pm on Sunday 10^th March. There will be a Pasifika Festival Church Service held from 9 am — 10 am on Sunday too.
A diversity of arts and crafts can be seen and sometimes bought, including traditional weaving. The food of course is also very inviting, you can eat ice cream in a watermelon, taste a traditional Maori meal cooked by the hangi method, or get some tasty local seafood. There is music to be heard and an atmosphere to soak up. Take all the whanau, enjoy!