Celebrate Pasifika
Embrace Pacific culture and consciousness with Celebrate Pasifika, returning to the Auckland Region in March.
Celebrate Pasifika in 2008 is a three-week voyage navigating Pacific business, sport, performing arts, visual arts, film, craft and design. Launched in 2005, Celebrate Pasifika is jointly presented by Auckland, Waitakere and Manukau cities.
Opening week incorporates the annual two-day Pasifika Festival at Western Springs, the original springboard for the Auckland region to come together and present a true showcase of Pacific events and festivities.
The Pacific Trade Expo will bring businesses from around the vast Pacific Ocean closer, while 3 on 3 basketball competitions have been added to the sports line up of waka ama races and Pasifika Touch Rugby Tournament.
The high energy ASB Polyfest, representing the very best of Pacific and Maori secondary school cultural performance, and Pollywood SIX08, featuring recent films by Pacific filmmakers, are both back on the Celebrate Pasifika horizon.
A new eye on Pacific heritage in Auckland will be a tour of Auckland’s Pacific churches hosted by local architect Polisi Faumuina, while Genetic Pasifika, a series of craft workshops curated by Brenda Railey, sets the focus on traditional craft.
Pacific Artists Alliance ‘Pacific Circuit 2008’ an exhibition of “niu art” presented by o’kaioceanikart on K’ Road will showcase Pacific-based artists from the four winds; Rapa Nui to the East, Palau to the North, Rarotonga to the South and Papua New Guinea to the West.
Celebrate Pasifika Director, Michelle Khan describes the festival philosophy as an authentic experience inspired by thousands of years of history, past and future, taking us beyond social message vehicles or statistics.
“Celebrate Pasifika is the backbone to telling great stories from the soul and to showcase amazing and talented people”.
Celebrate Pasifika
The Auckland Region
1 – 20 March 2008