A combined church service was held at the Pasifika Festival in Auckland this morning.
The gathering at 9.00am celebrated the fellowship and spiritual values of the Pacific people.
Pasifika is one of Auckland's longest-running major events.
It attracts tens of thousands of people each year to Western Springs Lakeside Park to experience Pacific music, dance, arts, performance and food.
It transforms Western Springs into villages representing the island nations of Aotearoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Tokelau and Tuvalu.
The food and culture are huge drawcards, with traffic backed up all over the area yesterday.
Auckland Transport officials have advised people to use public transport, or share rides.
