Thousands celebrate Polyfest
A musical celebration marked by costumes, colour and culture saw thousands of people descend on Christchurch’s Hagley Park on Saturday for the annual Canterbury Polyfest.
It is a celebration of Pasifika traditional dance, music and costume featuring secondary students. It was first held in 2000 and is the most recognised Pacific festival in Canterbury.
Spectacular performances had the crowd on their feet and cheering on the performers who spent months practising and polishing their sets.
Christchurch Girls’ High School teacher Angie Sisifa said she was nervous ahead of her group’s performance, but they had been ready for the big moment for weeks. “For a lot of our girls, this event is an opportunity to showcase their families, their traditions, their culture, language, all of that good stuff. We don’t have enough platforms to do that, so today is a big one.”
Viane Makalio, of the Spacifically Pacific Collective (SpacPac) Canterbury Polyfest that organised the festival, said last year had seen more than 20,000 people attend the event and they expected this year’s attendance number to be even more.
“It is just such an awesome day for our students to showcase their culture, language and identity, with a great turnout from the families and everyone just having a really fun day.”
Makalio said Polyfest was one of multiple initiatives that SpacPac was involved with to create opportunities and stronger pathways to tertiary education and careers for Pasifika students.
Taliah Lesatele, 15, was beaming after performing as part of Burnside High School’s group. “It went really well. To me, [today] is all about learning more about my culture and experiencing different cultures. I just want to be here performing and having fun with my friends and family, and make my family proud.”
Steven Palavi, 18, a Year 13 student from Ashburton College, echoed the statement that the day was a day of cultural pride. It was the second year Palavi took part in the Polyfest, and he was buzzing with excitement to get on stage.
“It is a great day to showcase our cultures to Christchurch and the rest of the world, as well as what our culture means, and the love and respect for other people by watching their cultures as well,” he said. “Everyone here has a big smile on their face. It is a bit like Tonga where I come from, the friendly islands, everyone has friendly smiles everywhere and is enjoying it.”