Polyfest back with strong diversity showing

Backstage left, a group of Korean dancers from St Cuthbert's College are on the move, their long, fluorescent robes rustling. They are about to go on stage at Polyfest, and they're excited.

"We were so worried it would be cancelled," said Year 13 student Karen Liu, who is of Chinese descent. "It's nice to have Polyfest back."

The Māori and Pasifika festival sees tens of thousands of secondary school students perform and compete in music, speech, and dance every year. But it was canned last year due to Covid-19, and disrupted the year before because of the Christchurch mosque shootings.

Students perform on different island stages, including a "diversity" stage, a catch-all for those who do not fall under the main islands. It has the largest number of groups at 55, representing 30 ethnic groups from Thai, Turkish, and Tokelauan to African, Argentinian, and American.

St Cuthbert's College dancer and choreographer Karen Liu. Photo / Michael Craig

Liu's Korean group is one of them, performing a blend of Korean and Chinese traditional dance using large fans made of wood, cloth and feathers. "These fans are not the most comfortable to hold, sometimes they dig into your palms. Some of us are double-jointed which makes the moves really difficult, so I'm really proud of all the hard work we've put in," she said.

Offstage, on the wet grass, a group of Year 9 students are waiting to change out of their Avondale College uniforms. Their item won't be on for another hour or so and is an Indian fusion of Bhangra, Bollywood and what they described as "slow".

A moment of sunshine on day one of Polyfest. Photo / Michael Craig

"We feel included. It's an invitation by the natives, accepting us into their society, valuing our culture," said one of them, Oori Sivakumaran. "We're just here to have fun, and eat the food on offer!" said Hrithika Ganesh Lavanga.

The first day of Polyfest alternated between sun, drizzle and downpours. A terror attack and a pandemic did it but "We're not going to let the rain stop it in 2021," said Auckland mayor Phill Goff at the festival powhiri or welcome in the morning. He paid tribute to the country's Muslim communities who are also marking the first day of Ramadan, his voice over the sound system nearly drowned out by torrential rain.

Students rushing to move ceremonial items, trophies and themselves under cover as the heavens open. Photo / Michael Craig

The rain came and went, and the show went on. Taking shelter under a podium with her husband and 4-year-old son, Rachel Lua is waiting to see her eldest daughter perform. They're Tongan, but her Year 11 daughter is performing in a Thai group.

"She's made new friends, learned a new culture," Lua said. "It's good because there's less pressure in diversity, the other stages can be quite competitive."

Some 10,000 students from 49 schools will perform over the four-day festival at the Manukau Sports Bowl in South Auckland.

10,000 students are expected to perform over the four-day Polyfest. Photo / Michael Craig

"Their presence here tells me that language and culture is valuable to them," Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio told the Herald.

"It's the same message for all our bilingual ethnic (minority) communities. We bring a richness in our languages and cultures that if accepted at every level, in decision-making, would make New Zealand better and stronger," he said.

Guests at the Polyfest powhiri were drenched by sun and rain. Photo / Michael Craig

The St Cuthbert's girls' performance went without a hitch, but Liu insists she messed up twice on stage. This is her third and final time performing at Polyfest, and she is happy and relieved it happened. "Jia you!" she yells as a fellow performer runs past, a rallying cry in Mandarin.

"I'm Chinese but I'm in a Korean dance group," she said, "Everyone's cheering for each other."

"Especially when there's stuff like Asian hate and Black Lives Matter going on, it's really important that we have Polyfest."