Zoey and Betty from Rutherford College's African Fusion group, pictured at last year's Polyfest.
Zoey and Betty from Rutherford College's African Fusion group, pictured at last year's Polyfest.
Need To Know:
Manukau Sports Bowl, Boundary Rd, South Auck
Entry cost: Online tickets $7.50, gate tickets $10 per person, Children aged 5yo and under are free
Don’t forget a hat, sunscreen, water bottle
Top Tip: Food and arts and craft stalls available inside
A mass haka will herald the start of this year’s Auckland Secondary Schools’ Polyfest, which kicks off with the opening of the Diversity and Māori stages today.
The four-day event will see just over 8000 students from 239 school groups around the city showing off their love of culture on six different stages around the Manukau Sports Bowl - Cook Islands, Māori, Samoan, Tongan, Niuean and the Diversity stage, which features performances from other nations around the world, including China, India, Fiji, Korea, Vietnam, Tuvalu and Kiribati.
This year celebrates the festival’s 49th birthday and will begin with a flag-raising ceremony at 7am, followed by a pōwhiri and a mass haka pōwhiri to be performed by students from Western Springs College, who are this year’s hosts of the Māori stage.
Festival director Seiuli Terri Leo-Mauu acknowledged the essence of the festival and the rich history and roots associated with it.
From humble beginnings to one of NZ’s most celebrated events
The festival was first held at Hilary College, in Otara, 49 years ago and involved students from only four schools: Hilary College, Aorere College, Māngere College and then Seddon High - now known as Western Springs College.
This year’s theme speaks to that history: Me anga whakamuri kia kohe whakamua - Looking to our past to determine our future.
“It is our hope that our young people and schools will continue to draw on the stories of our ancestors to help them navigate their futures with a sense of self, a sense of belonging to something bigger and a sense of empowerment - knowing that the future is in their hands,” Seiuli said.
Many school groups spend months or several weeks learning and rehearsing their performances and perfecting their moves and songs. That hard work is now being recognised via NCEA credits and achievement standards for students in years 11, 12 and 13.
Today’s performances will see 12 kapa haka groups from division 3 take to the Māori stage from 10am to 5pm.
The kura performing are from Māngere College, Marist College, Ngā Puna o Waiōrea, Edgewater College, Mt Roskill Grammar, Avondale College, Diocesan School for Girls, Glenfield College, Lynfield College and One Tree Hill College.
On the Diversity stage, a total of 38 cultural groups will perform from 9.30am to 4pm. There is also a performance from the Arohanui Special School during morning tea at 11.10am.
The schedule for the Diversity stage and the performing schools can be found on the dedicated festival website.
Last year's Diversity stage at the Polyfest. Photo / Alex Burton
Speech competitions
As the festival celebrates 49 years of cultural pride, it also marks more than 39 years of ASB’s connection to the event as the main sponsor.
Executive manager for ASB’s commercial partnerships, Mark Graham, said: “We’re thrilled to remain a big part of the festival today.”
The Māori stage performances are back at the Manukau Sports Bowl this year, after they were held at a different venue last year. Photo / Ben Campbell, BC Photography
As well as cultural performances, the Polyfest provides a stage for speech competitions on the Pacific Island stages as well - offering high school students the opportunity to share their oratory skills in their mother tongue, while also earning them NCEA credits.
Those speech competitions, sponsored by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, start today also - on the Samoan, Tongan, Niuean and Cook Islands stages.
The speeches, as well as all the group performances, can be watched dedicated livestreams being set up at each of the stages, via the ASB Polyfest website.
Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald’s Talanoa section, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and picked up the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.
