Festival to celebrate cultural mix
For many and varied reasons, Te Puke has become a melting pot of nationalities and cultures.
On Saturday that mix will be celebrated with Te Puke’s first International Festival.
The afternoon and earlyevening event is a great chance to try something new to eat, to be entertained and to enjoy the flavours of other countries.
The idea for a festival began when Monique Lints got together with Te Puke Primary School teachers Mike and Holly Douglas.
“They are heavily involved in [Pasifika in the Bay] and they said we need to do something like this in Te Puke,” she says.
“We called a public meeting with Tauranga Ethnic Council and [Western Bay of Plenty Welcoming Communities co-ordinator] Haidee Kalirai.”
From that there was a possibility that the Tauranga Ethnic festival might come to Te Puke, but when that fell through, Monique decided there was no reason Te Puke couldn’t have its own festival.
“We did Christmas in the Park with zero budget, so we thought, why can’t we do this?
“We just want to put it out there and support the diverse cultures we have in Te Puke.”
Monique says that over the past six months she has seen a number of initiatives that have indicated more integration including the recent Sikh Parade, migrant women’s lunches and English classes supported by Plunket and the Welcoming Communities initiative.
“There’s been a real integration of cultures and it’s awesome to see.”
■ Saturday’s International Festival is in Jubilee Park and runs from 3pm-7pm with food stalls and entertainment.