Peaceful festival overcomes controversy and divisions

The inaugural Parihaka Peace Festival lived up to its name with large numbers of enthusiastic fans enjoying three days of trouble-free entertainment, despite a controversial buildup.

The turnout of around 8000 exceeded organisers' expectations and the event will become a regular fixture in Taranaki every two years.

The festival, to honour the community's pacifist founders, Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai, and to raise money for the impoverished area, looked shaky after a public spat erupted between organisers and the head of the Parihaka Papakainga Trust, Paul Rangipunga.

The trust paid for public notices in the local paper warning all involved with the festival that the trust accepted no liability for an "unpaid debt, dishonoured agreements and or contracts relating to the event".

Organiser Milton Hohaia said that although the initial attendance on Friday was lower than expected, big weekend numbers meant organisers were forced to clear a further 3ha for tents and camper vans.

He said performances by headline acts Fat Freddys Drop and Katchafire on Saturday night pulled the biggest crowds.

Around 5000 hangi were served at the event, which had been expected to attract between 5000 and 7000 people.

Mr Hohaia said the lack of a liquor licence also worked in the festival's favour, with drunkenness noticeably absent over the weekend.

"We had people coming in from all over the country. There were also a lot of different languages being spoken."

Inspector Frank Grant of Hawera said police were impressed by the organisation of the event and behaviour of the crowd, with no arrests over the three days.

Parihaka was home to a 2000-strong pan-tribal Maori community led by prophets Te Whiti and Tohu, which followed a non-violent campaign against colonisation in the late nineteenth century.

The movement was crushed by Government troops on November 5, 1881.


Parihaka

* Large and well-organised 19th century Taranaki community of Maori.
* Led by prophets Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai, who advocated peaceful resistance in the face of settler demand for land.
* Crushed by Government troops in 1881. 

 
Beer and possum pate

Revellers washed down fish eyes and marinated duck tongues with about 17,000 litres of beer at the Hokitika Wildfoods Festival yesterday.

Organisers estimated 17,000 people flocked to the annual event, attracted by about 90 experimental food stalls offering offbeat delights ranging from possum pate to huhu grubs.

But there were also more traditional dishes, such as whitebait fritters, which Aucklanders were pleased to get for a fraction of the Viaduct price.

Police said a new downtown liquor ban meant there were few drink-related arrests.

Organiser Mike Keenan said the economic benefit to the West Coast from the one-day event was estimated to be over $2.5 million.

- NZPA