It’s celebration time — c’mon
Pasifika Day dodges another lockdown as event goes ahead
Pasifika Celebration Day in Levin has managed to dodge two Covid-19 lockdowns in as many years. The popular event went ahead last year just weeks before New Zealand went into level 4 lockdown, while the easing of last week’s lockdown restrictions had given the green light to this year’s celebration.
Pasifika Celebration Day has become iconic in the Horowhenua District, and this year is its 10th anniversary. It starts at Levin Domain on Saturday, March 13, at 2pm.
Event co-ordinator and Fale Pasifika Horowhenua chairman Aleni Feagaiga said organisers were looking to mark the milestone with a special events programme.
NZ reggae band Tomorrow People will take the stage, and there would also be cultural items from a range of Pacific Island nations such as Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Fiji, Cook Islands and Tuvalu.
The event will also feature cultural performances from an 80-strong Horowhenua & Waiopehu Colleges Combined Cultural Group. Feagaiga said it was the first time the two schools had come together in performance.
Whitireia Polytech Cook Islands Group and the RSE boys, who are seasonal workers from Samoa working at Woodhaven Gardens and Lewis Farms, will also perform.
The workers have been stuck in NZ since September 2019 and are grateful they have been able to contribute by taking up these positions.
“Pasifika Celebration Day is an event which recognises the diversity of Pacific Islands cultures within our community and celebrates these unique cultures with the people of the Pacific Islands and wider community,” he said.
“It’s about the coming together of people from all ethnicities and creating an understanding and acceptance of the diversity within our community.
“Pacific Island people are extremely proud of their culture and absolutely love to share this on stage. The event provides people with a sense of identity, belonging and unity, not only as a Pasifika community but as a whole community.
“It will be a time to take the stage and show not only Pacific peoples, also everyone in the community that although we are from Pacific countries and have many similarities, our cultures are also different in many ways,” he said.
“Recognising this is extremely important if we are to preserve our traditions and identity, and teach our young people the values, culture, arts and the reason why we are who we are. Pasifika Celebration Day will go a long way to ensure the protection of our identity and culture.”
Feagaiga said food trucks and stalls would be offering a huge range of islands cuisine, arts and crafts.
“This will provide a fundraising opportunity for churches and community groups,” he said.
There would also be government and non-government organisations space for information and promotional booths on services such as health, education and social services.
All Fale Pasifika Horowhenua members are volunteers and have full-time positions in organisations such as council, health, MSD, and local NGOs, he said.