Pasifika 2023: Thousands expected at festival, as event returns to Western Springs | T-10 NEWS

Auckland’s Pasifika Festival this weekend is tipped to be one of its biggest to date, as the event finally returns to its original home at Western Springs.

After years of disruptions and cancellations, the festival will celebrate its 31st birthday back where it all began in 1992; showcasing the various cultures, foods and performances from around the Pacific region.

Festival producer Torise Flay has produced the event for the past six years and says it is good to be home. The last time the festival was held at Western Springs Park was in 2018.

“We feel like it’s our homecoming – five years since we’ve been at Western Springs Park – so it’s been a journey.

“Pasifika 2023 back at Western Springs Park is really a culmination of this mahi that we’ve done over the past five years.

“Everyone is excited to be back. We know our stallholders are ready, our performers are ready and we are ready.”

The two-day festival kicks off tomorrow and will see eight villages featuring 11 countries from around the Pacific – Fiji, Samoa, Niue, Tahiti, Tokelau, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Hawaii, Tonga and Aotearoa.

More than 100 stalls will offer Pasifika handicrafts, jewellery and clothing, as well as the various traditional and contemporary foods and delicacies unique to those countries.

Flay said a big highlight for the Fijian and Samoan villages this year is the lovo and umu meals being cooked the traditional way.

The Samoan umu is an above-ground oven that uses hot rocks to cook a dish and the Fijian lovo is an underground oven that cooks a meal – similar to a hāngi.

“The food is obviously something that everyone looks forward to at Pasifika,” Flay said.

Other foods on the menu include lamb and pork buns (keke pua’a), custard puddings, pāua and whitebait fritters, pineapple pies, Cook Islands donuts, bbq, coconut ice cream, chop suey and the Pasifika staple – ice cream in a watermelon.

How mum’s cooking led to family business

Among the stallholders setting up shop is the Lauvao family, of Polyanaz, who will be selling Polynesian soul food at the Samoan village.

On their menu is a bbq hot plate – with marinated chicken or lamb – potato salad and chop suey, bacon and egg rolls, steak and egg rolls and whitebait and mussel fritters.

The family travelled from Hawke’s Bay, where they live, and have been running a food truck for the last seven years.

Ana Lauvao said the business was born out of a want to help her husband, who had been the sole breadwinner for the family for a number of years.

A sometimes emotional Lauvao acknowledges how tough life was in those days.

“The business started from home. We have seven children and it was hard cooking for them – making a meal with whatever we had at home.

“They started asking me: ‘Wow, mum. How’d you make this’? I just kept thinking, I want to help my husband to provide for my children.”

Lauvao eventually started selling the dishes her children loved so much and which were based on recipes from her Tongan background and her husband’s Samoan side.

They decided on a food truck instead of a shop front to sell their dishes from, as it gave them the freedom to travel to various events around the Hawke’s Bay region and the country.

“We’re not stuck at the shop waiting for people to come. We go to the people.”

They have attended shows and festivals around Hawke’s Bay and, more recently, at Te Matatini and the Auckland Secondary Schools’ ASB Polyfest last week.

These days, the Lauvao kids are all grown up and have learned the importance of working hard to earn a living – while also spending time with family.

“My husband and my kids are my main helpers. They work hard and then get their holiday and pay after. I’m very grateful.”

On the entertainment front, each village stage has its own programme and includes both traditional island dance and performances, but also musical items by young Pacific and Māori artists based in NZ and overseas.

A special siva afi (fire dance) is also tipped to be a crowd-pleaser at the Samoan village tonight, as it features five international female siva afi dancers – the first time they have performed together.

Flay said many of the stallholders involved families and community groups who are thrilled to be back.

“Families have been prepping all week and we’re really excited to have them back at Western Springs.

“It’s a good thing for us. We’re welcoming everyone with open arms. The park is ready and we’re looking forward to it coming alive with 11 Pacific cultures.”

Members of the public are being encouraged to use public transport to get to the festival, as parking is very limited.

A park-and-ride service will run each day from Unitec (Gate 4), in Mt Albert, every 30 minutes to Western Springs and back.

Need to know

When: Tomorrow 9am-7pm and Sunday 10am-4pm

How much: Free

Don’t forget: Hat, water bottle, sunscreen