Instigator of ASB Polyfest returns for 40th Anniversary

20 March 2015

Instigator of ASB Polyfest returns for the festival’s 40th Anniversary.

One of the instigators of the ASB Polyfest, Boaz Raela returns for a function at the Manukau Sports Bowl at 11am this morning to mark the 40th Anniversary of the festival.

This iconic festival started in 1976, when two sixth form students at Otara’s Hilary College (now Sir Edmund Hilary Collegiate) – Boaz Raela and Michael Rollo challenged three other Auckland schools to a performance competition – a celebration of their difference cultures.

The original concept of Raela and Rollo was to host a festival that brought secondary schools together, and allowed them to demonstrate pride in their cultural identity and heritage through traditional dance and kapa haka.

Four schools attended the inaugural event – Seddon High School (now Western Springs College), Aorere College, Mangere College and the host school – Hillary College. The Parent Teacher Assn took responsibility for the food on the day, with a hangi prepared and the school tuckshop opened.

Forty years on, the ASB Polyfest has grown into the largest Maori & Pacific Island Festival in the world, and a symbol of the growing diversity of Auckland, the largest Pacific city on the globe. This year’s event sees 64 schools, 214 cultural groups, 10,000 students performing traditional speech, song and dance on six stages, and an expected crowd of 90,000 people attending the festival.

The event's original purpose was to maintain dance and other traditions among young Polynesian and Maori. This year's festival at the Manukau Sports Bowl features Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island, Niuean and Maori performances, as well as the Diversity stage which features cultures such as Chinese, Fijian and Indian, Korean, Sri Lankan

Boaz Raela is now Deputy Principal of Tereora College in the Cook Islands, and has returned to Auckland for the festival’s 40th Anniversary. When speaking about the ASB Polyfest, Raela said -"The whole idea is students coming together, enjoying one's culture and appreciating other cultures These festivals are the sorts of things that unite us”

This morning’s function at 11am in the Greyhound Lounge, Manukau Sports Bowl will see Raela discuss the original vision for the festival, how the ASB Polyfest has grown in its 40 year history, and his thoughts for the future of the festival.

The ASB Polyfest will be alive today with Maori & Pacific Island colour and culture. The Te Whare Wanaga o Awanuiarangi Maori Stage features the Division 2 kapa haka competition from 9am – 5pm with 12 schools vying to be promoted to Division 1 next year, The University of Auckland Samoa Stage has 18 groups on stage from 9am – 5pm, the drums will be beating on the AUT Cook Islands Stage with 10 groups on stage from 9am – 3pm, the Massey University Tongan Stage features 29 traditional Tongan dances such as the Ma’ulu’ulu and Kailao from 8:30am – 4.30pm. The MIT Niue Stage runs from 9am – 3pm today.

ACG Diversity Stage is also in full swing with 19 different ethnic groups taking to the stage. The main culture represented on the ACG Diversity Stage is Indian with 20 groups, followed by Fijian with 6 groups, African & Filipino with 5 groups each, and Korean with 4 groups. Other groups on the ACG Diversity stage today include Vietnamese, Sri Lankan and Tuvalu groups.

The 2015 ASB Polyfest takes place at the ASB Sports Bowl from Wednesday, 18 March to Saturday, 21 March. Entry is $5 with pre-school children free of charge.

Key Details

Event: ASB Polyfest

Dates: 18 – 21 March 2015

Place: Manukau Sports Bowl, Te Irirangi Drive, Manukau

Entry: $5. Preschool children are free

Website: www.asbpolyfest.co.nz

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