Deluge all of a sodden
Thunderstorms and squally rain lashed the North Island yesterday afternoon.
A large thunderstorm pummelled Hamilton about lunch time and Cambridge resident Cassie Jones said the “impressive” storm produced “the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard”.
The first day of Polyfest in Manukau, South Auckland, alternated
between sun, drizzle and downpours.
Auckland mayor Phil Goff opened the festival, paying tribute to the country’s Muslim communities who are marking the first day of Ramadan. “We’re not going to let the rain stop it in 2021,” his voice over the sound system nearly drowned out by torrential rain.
The rain came and went, and the show went on. MetService meteorologist Angus Hines said a low-pressure system crossed the upper North Island from midday.
Auckland felt the brunt of the wet weather about 7pm before it started to clear, Hines said.
Korean dancers from St Cuthbert’s College are on the move, their long, fluorescent robes rustling. They’re about to go on stage at Polyfest, and they’re excited.
“We were so worried it would be cancelled,” says Year 13 student Karen Liu, who is of Chinese descent. “It’s nice to have Polyfest back.” Thousands of secondary school students perform and compete in music, speech, and dance at the Ma¯ori and Pasifika festival every year. It was canned last year due to Covid-19, and disrupted the year before because of the Christchurch mosque shootings.
The largest number of groups took part this year at 55, representing 30 ethnic groups from from Thai, Turkish, and Tokelauan to African, Argentinian, and American.
The first day of Polyfest alternated between sun, drizzle and downpours. About 10,000 students making up 160 performance groups from 49 schools will perform over the four-day festival at the Manukau Sports Bowl in South Auckland.