29 February 2012

2012 ASB Polyfest kicks off in a fortnight

The Manukau Sports Bowl will come to life in a fortnight’s time with the 37th staging of the ASB Polyfest.

From Wednesday, 14 March to Saturday, 17 March the Sports Bowl will reverberate with traditional song and dance from Auckland’s diverse cultures.

The ASB Polyfest has become a true showcase of Auckland’s cultures and a unique celebration of youth performance. Event Director Tania Karauria sums up the festival as one of “pride and passion for culture from students for students”.

This year’s festival will feature 9000 students from 58 schools performing on six stages in front of a projected audience of 95,000 people.

ASB is once again supporting the celebration of Auckland’s diversity as the principal sponsor of ASB Polyfest. “Auckland’s population is increasingly diverse, this festival celebrates the rich cultural tapestry of our city,” says Linley Wood, Executive General Manager Culture & Community.

While the colour and culture of the ASB Polyfest will be back this year, a significant change to this year’s festival comes in the school’s hosting model.

For the past 36 years, an Auckland secondary school has hosted the ASB Polyfest, initially at their school, and then from 1995 at the Manukau Sports Bowl.

However, the festival has grown to the point where it has become impossible for one school to be the sole host due to the large number of staff and students required for “at event” responsibilities such as gate staff and programme sellers.

A new hosting model was proposed by George Pomare from James Cook High School which shares the responsibility for the 2012 ASB Polyfest amongst a large number of schools.

The new structure for the 2012 ASB Polyfest sees one school sit as the head school or Kura Matua. Their roles include providing the festival theme and artwork, co-ordinating the Maori stage, and acting as the caretaker of the festival’s Mauri, or sacred stone. Separate schools will then take care of each cultural stage at the festival with their role known as the Mana Kura.

The schools who have have accepted these hosting responsibilities for the ASB Polyfest are –

Kura Matua

Maori Stage Kia Aroha College (formerly Clover Park School)

Mana Kura

Cook Islands Stage Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate

Diversity Stage Papatoetoe High School

Niue Stage Alfriston College

Samoan Stage Manurewa High School

Tongan Stage James Cook High School

The theme chosen by Kia Aroha College for the 2012 ASB Polyfest is –

“My culture defines me”

“Ko au te ahurea Ko te ahurea ko au”

ENDS

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