Village people
Dionne Christian talks to some of Pasifika’s organisers
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What does it take to pull together a successful festival? A talent for doing jigsaw puzzles, say the three dynamic women behind Auckland’s biggest and most popular cultural events.
Leisa Siteine, Torise Flay and Simone Pakieto work for Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed) and are charged with the task of pulling together this weekend’s Pasifika.
Siteine, manager of event productions, also oversees the Tamaki Herenga Waka, Lantern and Diwali festivals.
She’s responsible for a ninestrong events’ team who work particularly intensively from October-March when Auckland is in peak festival mode. There are also smaller and special events throughout the year — a victory parade for a triumphant sports team with less than a week to prepare? That’s them, too.
She and Flay, Pasifika’s event producer, say putting on a crowd-pleasing festival is like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces must be sorted then carefully moved into position to create a complete, beautiful picture.
Even with the best will in the world, something can still happen that muddles those pieces. Like stormy weather.
“There aren’t a lot of indoor venues that could cope with a festival of this size,” says Flay, “so good weather is enormously important. We have to find a suitable venue that all those involved agree on.”
She and Pakieto, Pasifika’s event production co-ordinator, say they look at the weather apps on their phones obsessively in the days leading up to the festival.
Thousands of Aucklanders flock to the two-day Pasifika, where there are 11 distinctly different villages, representing the Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Aotearoa, Hawaii, Kiribati, Samoa, Tahiti, Tuvalu, Tonga and Tokelau. Each has a performance stage and market stalls selling signature dishes and crafts unique to the village’s culture.
Some 32 contractors construct the villages and their 180 marquees.
And then there are the neighbours. No one wants to get offside with Auckland Zoo and Motat. That means offering opportunities for them to get involved in Pasifika too.
Today and tomorrow, Motat celebrates Pacific culture, rhythms and flavours with Pasifika Vibes @ Motat, a free event running alongside the festival. Like Pasifika itself, it’s a smoke-and-alcohol-free event and, just for this weekend, the exhibition halls and the rest of Motat will be closed to the public.
So, what’s the pay-off for the weeks of frantic activity?
“As much as it’s hard work,” says Flay, “I love seeing the smiles on the faces of all the people who attend your event.”
Pakieto says being able to meet artists from all over the Pacific is an honour. “We’re all proud Polynesian women and to share our culture — to let that shine — that’s a privilege.”