One of the hottest events on Auckland’s Summer Calendar is the annual Pasifika Festival. This year promises to be even bigger and better than ever as Pasifika celebrates its 25th birthday. This FREE event is held every year in Western Springs Park and attracts huge crowds to watch over 220 performances. This year organisers are expecting over 60,000 people to attend over the weekend of Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th March.
This is definitely a party you won’t want to miss!
What is Pasifika all about?
Pasifika is a celebration of the Pacific Islands. Western Springs Park will be transformed for the weekend into 11 different ‘villages’ to represent the different Pacific Islands. Just like the Pacific Islands, each of the villages will have their own vibe from the dancing and music through to the food and drink. There’s a bit of something for everyone whether you want the laid back vibes of Niue and Tuvalu, the delicious smokey BBQ flavours of Hawaii or some amazing traditional dancing from the Cook Islands – Pasifika has it all!
Celebrating 25 years of Pasifika
Pasifika is always a blast but this year promises to be huge as the festival celebrates its 25th birthday. Organisers have pulled out all the stops and there will be a very special live performance from Resonate who will be performing their famous ‘Moana Mash Up’ which is based on the latest Disney movie. You can get a little taste of it in the YouTube video below:
Stalls and more…
As well as the opportunity to watch some amazing shows, especially in the villages of the Cook Islands and Samoa, there are also heaps of stalls with locals selling food and crafts from the Pacific Islands. This is such an awesome family friendly event and a good chance to get a feel for what it’s like in the Pacific Islands without leaving Auckland! Typically Pasifika has enjoyed some beautiful weather towards the end of March and hopefully this year will be more of the same. The best way to enjoy the festival is to grab a picnic blanket, grab your family and friends and head down to Western Springs Park and grab a spot.
Pasifika’s headline sponsor is AMI but they have a whole heap of sponsors and partners who come together to make this event possible every year including the likes of Air New Zealand, Charlie’s and Pak N Save.
To find out more about this awesome event, make sure you check out the Visit Auckland website for more information. The full programme for the day is expected in the middle of March so keep checking back so you can plan your day!