PASIFIKA BY NATURE TRUST

MEDIA RELEASE 1 May, 2018

Waikato and Bay of Plenty Communities Celebrate 20 Years of Pasifika Goodness

More than 800 secondary school students from over 10 Schools from Hamilton and the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions, will take part in the Pasifika By Nature cultural festival this Saturday in Hamilton. 2018 also marks 20 years since the festival first began. This year’s theme is the National Youth Week theme, Be Who You Want To be.

Chairman for PBN Akarere Henry says the festival is a special one, with performances from local artists and more than 25 of the original PBN students and supporters who were part of the festival from the start, returning to be part of the event. There will also be a Songfest held on Sunday afternoon as part of the celebrations.

“The first 10 years of the festival was more about showcasing our Pasifika culture, however over time the students lobbied the Trust to make it a competition, so we listened, and it’s been great to see the students getting involved, putting in the hard work to create a wonderful festival that we can all be proud of.”

To mark the 20 year anniversary PBN will hold its first ever market place to coincide with the festival, Pasifika - food, arts, crafts will be on display, as part of the celebrations.

Akarere Henry says this the first time for PBN to be granted permission to have Pasifika food on sale, since being at Claudelands Arena centre.

Another change for the festival is PBN will be held every two years. The next event will be held in 2020.

Chair for PBN Akarere Henry says for the past 20 years the event has been running on the generosity of amazing volunteers.

Akarere says the trust wants to ensure the event will continue well into the future and be able to sustain itself.

“We also want to invest time in the different regions and hope to encourage local towns and cities to have their own PBN festival in the off year we don’t have our large one.”

The PBN trust invites the community to come celebrate this milestone that makes Pasifika communities special in the Waikato.

When: Pasifika By Nature Festival and Pasifika By Nature Market Place: Saturday 5 May 2018
Where: Claudelands Arena, Heaphy Tce Hamilton.
Time: Market place from 10 am- 3 pm (cash only). Performances begin at 11 am
Tickets: $10 Adults $5 Child/Student plus service fees.
ENDS

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