ASB Polyfest starts next week
6 March 2017
ASB Polyfest starts next week
The Manukau Sports Bowl will burst into life in just over a weeks’ time with the 42nd staging of the ASB Polyfest. From Wednesday, March 15 to Saturday, March 18 the Sports Bowl in Manukau will reverberate with traditional song and dance from Auckland’s youth.
ASB Polyfest 2017 will see more than 9,000 secondary school students from across the Auckland region perform on stage, with 220 performing groups entered from 60 schools.
Students will compete in traditional song, dance and speech on one of six stages - Cook Islands, Maori, Niue, Samoan, Tongan, and the Diversity stage which features cultures such as Chinese, Fijian, Tokelau, Indian, Korean and Sri Lankan.
This year’s festival theme is: “Nurturing Leadership through Culture”. The theme was highlighted at last week’s ASB Polyfest festival launch held at ASB’s North Wharf, with speakers describing how their experience of performing at the festival when they were younger, helped shape the leaders they are today.
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Hon. Alfred Ngaro spoke of attending the ASB Polyfest as a Henderson High School student and how it impressed on him – “the importance of culture and language.”
At the launch, Ngaro stressed to students to “learn about your culture, and that doing so will enhance your sense of well-being, and who you are as a person.”
ASB Polyfest Event Director Theresa Howard also attended the festival as a performer, in the St Dominic’s College Samoan Group. She said that being part of that cultural group “helped teach me the virtues of respect, discipline and hard work.”
She said she was “able to apply the learnings of being part of the cultural group into the classroom, and then later in my working and family life” providing a personal example of how leadership has been nurtured through culture.
Headmaster of Mt Albert Grammar, and Chair of the ASB Polyfest Trust, Patrick Drumm described the ASB Polyfest as – “an affirmation of young people, and the importance of culture and identity”
He encouraged students at the festival launch to – “practice hard, play hard on stage and remember that your greatest victory is the positive impact the festival will have on your families and wider community.”
ASB head of community, sponsorship and events Mark Graham said ASB is proud to be involved in ASB Polyfest, this year celebrating 33 years of support.
"It was a privilege to be at the ASB Polyfest launch event on Wednesday night, seeing first-hand, the time, hard work and determination students have put into their performances, and to see the pride and respect they share for each others’ cultures.”
“ASB Polyfest brings many cultures together, creating one community. We look forward to being at the festival to support the students as they proudly perform for their families and their schools in two weeks’ time,” Mr Graham said.
From March 15 - 18, the Manukau Sports Bowl will see more young leaders on stage at this year’s ASB Polyfest, a youth festival that has become the largest Maori and Pacific Island festival in the world.
With just over a week until the powhiri on Wednesday March 15, more than 9000 students across Auckland are putting the final touches on their performances at after school rehearsals and weekend practice camps, while tutors and family will be frantically preparing costumes.
Schools with hosting responsibilities at the 2017 ASB Polyfest are –
Kura Matua
TWWOA Maori Stage Nga Puna O Waiorea – Western Springs College
Kelston Girls College
Hoani Waititi Marae
Mana Kura
AUT University Cook Islands Stage Epsom Girls Grammar School
ACG Tertiary & Careers Diversity Stage Botany Downs Secondary College
MIT Niue Stage Wesley College
The University of Auckland Samoan Stage Mangere College
Massey University Tongan Stage Southern Cross Campus
The theme for this year’s ASB Polyfest is - “Nurturing Leadership through Culture”