The growing and diverse Timaru Pasifika community is set to be celebrated this weekend.
Formerly known as the Aoraki Pasifika Festival, the newly named Aoraki Moana Festival will take place on Saturday at Timaru South School from 1pm-3.30pm.
The festival will feature a variety of performances as well as market and food stalls.
Organiser Sange Malama said they changed the festival name as a way to better reflect its purpose.
‘‘We changed our name to reflect that yes, we are Pasifika, but also we want to involve anybody. Moana connects everyone, no matter what country you come from.
‘‘The Aoraki Moana Festival is about coming together, uniting our Polynesians and sharing that pride with the wider Timaru community to give them a taste of our cultures. It’s a celebration of who we are and where we’re heading together.’’
She said the event, now in its fifth year, was still as important as ever.
‘‘It’s really important just to bring everyone together. The Pasifika population is growing more and more, but if you look around, there’s nothing really that lets you know that’s happening.
‘‘This is a Pasifika event, but anyone is welcome to come. We want everyone to come along and experience this, because it’s a good chance to experience Pasifika culture and see why it’s important for our community.
‘‘Everybody that’s involved in the festival lives here in Timaru, it’s 100% local and that’s what I love most about it.’’
There would be 12 different performances, she said.
‘‘We have some school groups, which are Timaru South School, the Highfield Pasifika Group, Oceanview [Heights], Waimataitai and Bluestone.
‘‘There’s also a couple of family groups coming to perform, which is great and then the host group Aoraki Moana, will perform as well. We’ve been out and about through the year performing at different events, and it’s been really fun for the kids.’’
She wished to thank Creative NZ, Wash Rite South Canterbury, Tenfold Barbershop, Z’LK Braids by Keela, Hathaways Barbershop, and Heartlands Chips, for being the major sponsors of the festival.
