Record Crowd at 2009 ASB Polyfest

Record Crowd at 2009 ASB Polyfest

A record number of patrons enjoyed this year’s ASB Polyfest, which was held last week at the Manukau Sports Bowl. The 34th annual ASB Polyfest, saw 90,000 people enjoying good weather throughout the festival, and a visual feast of colour and culture on display.

Huge crowds watched the school cultural groups deliver passionate performances, while competing for their schools. All five stages – Maori, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoan & Tonga were in action last Friday & Saturday, with thousands of spectators soaking in the traditional dance routines from the lawn areas in front of the stages.

Event director – Tania Karauria was very impressed with the large numbers of people that enjoyed this year’s festival, saying “there was a real buzz around the festival, with patrons thoroughly enjoying the entertainment on offer”.

Karauria said that the “performances from schools are getting better and better, and the benchmark was definitely raised this year.”

Tania Karauria also added that she was impressed at the number of schools that now use the ASB Polyfest as a learning experience, giving the example of Te Atatu Intermediate, who brought the whole school in for the Friday of the festival.

The announcement of the results on Saturday evening was greeted with huge applause and some familiar schools on the trophies.

It was a special celebration for Avondale College, winning the co-ed Samoan stage title for the eighth consecutive year.

Local Manukau schools dominated a few of the stages with Tangaroa College winning the overall title on the Niue Stage, Mangere College taking top honours on the Cook Islands stage.

The host school for this year’s festival – Wesley College, had a great festival both on and off stage. They were delighted at how well the festival flowed from an organisational perspective, and also managed to win Division 2 of the Maori stage in a combined performance with Waiuku College, and the Kailao section on the Tongan stage.

Planning is already underway for the 2010 ASB Polyfest, with sponsors and event managers already discussing new initiatives such as giving the festival a stronger educational focus, and ways to get even more than the 90,000 spectators that enjoyed this year’s ASB Polyfest.

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