ASB Polyfest kicks off today

ASB Polyfest kicks off today

The largest Maori and Pacific Island festival in the world - the ASB Polyfest gets underway today at the Manukau Sports Bowl.

The ASB Polyfest is a true celebration of youth performance and cultural diversity and will feature 228 performance groups from 64 schools over the next four days, performing speeches, kapa haka and traditional Pacific dance.

Officially, the ASB Polyfest started this morning with a special flag-raising ceremony at 7:00am. This was followed by the festival Powhiri at 8:00am where the festival guests (manuhiri) were welcomed by the hosts (Tainui & Pacific Island leaders). The Powhiri featured a mass haka performed by the festival’s Kura Matua School (host of the Maori Stage) – Nga Puna o Waiorea - Western Springs College, and guests such as Mayor Len Brown were in attendance.

Following the morning’s ceremony, the Manukau Sports Bowl is set to come alive with Maori and Pacific Island colour and culture, with more than 9,000 Auckland students taking to the festival’s six stages throughout the festival

The festival has become a key annual event for secondary school students with Event Director Theresa Howard saying – “It’s a great way for students to develop leadership, creativity and teamwork skills. There is nothing like it.”

ASB Head of Community and Sponsorship Mark Graham is looking forward to seeing spine-tingling performances and meeting many Auckland-locals across the four-day ASB Polyfest event this week.

“With more than 9,000 Auckland students taking part, ASB Polyfest 2016 is set to be a wonderful cultural event for people of all ages. We’re looking forward to meeting students from different Polynesian cultures and seeing the colourful and truly remarkable performances on each of the six stages,” Mr Graham says.

“ASB began its sponsorship of Polyfest 32 years ago and we’re thrilled to remain a big part of the festival today. As one of our longest and most-treasured partnerships, we are continually proud to be associated ASB Polyfest,” Mr Graham says.

The first day of the ASB Polyfest 2016 sees the Te Whare Wanaga o Awanuiarangi Maori Stage host nine kapa haka groups from 10am – 3pm.

The University of Auckland Samoan Stage and Massey University Tongan Stage will also be in action today and hosting speech competitions. This year’s speech competition is entitled “Fight the Fever” with the topic based around the prevention of Rheumatic Fever. Students on the Tongan, Samoan, Cook Islands and Niue Stages are asked to speak in their native language, addressing the following questions -

Year 9 and 10 (Juniors)

1) How do we get young people involved in the fight against Rheumatic Fever?

2) Rheumatic Fever is a serious illness for our community. How can we prevent it?

3) Why should you get every sore throat checked?

Year 11 to 13 (Seniors)

1) What is the impact of Rheumatic fever on young people and their families?

2) How could social media support Rheumatic Fever messaging?

3) How does strep throat lead to Rheumatic Fever?

The 2016 ASB Polyfest takes place at the ASB Sports Bowl from today, Wednesday 16 March to Saturday, 19 March. Entry is $5 with pre-school children free of charge.

ENDS

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