Strong turn out for Pasifika festival in Wellington

Transcript

Hundreds of people in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, braved driving rain on Saturday to gather at the city's annual Pasifika festival.

The festival saw a gathering of stalls from various Pacific countries combine on the city's waterfront to celebrate Pasifika through music, craft and food.

Jamie Tahana joined them.

Despite a forecast of mere drizzle, the rain poured on a supposed summer's day in Wellington. But that didn't stop hundreds from turning out for the city's annual Pasifika day celebration at a park at the harbour's edge. The event is organised by Wellington City Council's Pacific Advisory Group. Its chair, Sai Lealea, says if anything, the rain is a blessing.

SAI LEALEA: That drizzle was just a shower of blessing, as our church ministers used to refer to. There's always an indication at a great event in the Pacific, if there's a bit of drizzle at the start, then that's a good omen because it's a shower of blessing I say.

Sai Lealea says the festival is one of the largest gatherings for Wellington's Pacific community, with many non-Pasifika people attending as well. He says it has gone from strength to strength since it started, and is continuing to show significant growth. Mr Lealea says the secret to its success is its community orientation.

SAI LEALEA: They regard it as a community event, you know, because other places they've been part of they feel it gets to be a corporate kind of stuff, but this festival they regard as their own and they really come out and put out their food, their stalls, wear their colourful shirts and clothes and some of them make a point to come and meet their families and relatives here, so that's a wonderful thing.

And make it their own they did. Dozens of floral-patterned marquees -- one for each country -- added to the colour of lava lavas, Hawaiian shirts and leis that shattered the greyness of a dreary day. From a stage at the centre of the park, the sound of drumming, singing and chanting silenced the whoosh of the persistent breeze. And then there was the food. The pervasive waft of fatty meat, chop suey and fish carried by the breeze through the maze of stalls, luring the masses. Paki Tuitupou Kute is running a Tongan arts and crafts stall - she says the colour of Pasifika makes it a really special day for the community.

PAKI TUITUPOU KUTE: I think it's really cool that everyone comes together with their cultures and, you know, what they do, like food and stuff, so I think it's great that we get a day like this.

Over the past couple of years the festival has seen a growing Melanesian presence. Jeff Rahare, who's manning the Solomon Islands area, says it's important for him and his community to spread the word of what the Solomon Islands is all about.

JEFF RAHANE: It's interesting when it comes to putting our national identity together you can see it isn't just one cap fits all, you know, it's a whole lot of things. Last year was the first year that we've been invited and involved with the Pasifika day, so we are learning as we go along, knowing what the public would be into.

Tied to the wharf at the edge of the festival was the waka Hoko'lea, on a break during its round-the-world journey using traditional Polynesian navigation. The waka started its journey in Hawaii almost a year ago, and arrived in New Zealand, via Tahiti and American Samoa, guided by the stars, wind, waves and birds. Its watch captain, Austin Kino, says like Pasifika festival, it's important to keep tradition alive.

AUSTIN KINO: It's a real strong connection to our cultures relearning this way of finding islands in the middle of the sea and it's a traditional knowledge that we're trying to maintain and protect and reteach to the next generation. I do it because it celebrates my culture being Hawaiian and I have a natural love for the ocean.

Late in the afternoon, the rain started to ease, and the clouds began to part allowing the sun to peek through. Sai Lealea, the chair of Wellington City Council's Pacific Advisory Group, said the event was a real success.