It has been a full-on term for some of our tamaiti who really stepped out of their comfort zone to give Polyfest a go.

After 3 years of COVID interfering with our Pacific communities' Polyfest celebrations, SPACPAC alongside NEEDS Trust, Rata Foundation and all their family of sponsors hosted the event at North Hagley Park on Saturday 18th of March.

Due to this event falling so early in the year, we had to recruit as many of our tamaiti as possible to form this group. We had a few of our Tuakana lead this space, but most of our tamaiti tapped into Polyfest prep from Kapa Haka. Our tamaiti didn’t have much time to prepare for this, they sacrificed a lot of their own time coming in to practices during their lunch breaks, after school and even Saturdays.

This year was very special for our Te Puna Wai o Waipapa Hagley Aiga. It’s been well over 20 years since we have registered a group in Polyfest so a huge shout out goes to all our tamaiti who participated in the Polyfest group! You have not only made history by putting our kura back on the Polyfest stage, but you have also established a sense of belonging for so many of our Pasifika students both present and future! Fa’amalo lava ia outou le fanau!

We also want to acknowledge our massive village of faiaoga (teachers), matua (parents) and aiga (families) who have supported us during Polyfest preparations. Special mentions to our supporting tutors Fausia, Jemimah and Jasmine who came in to help run practices leading up to the event.

Our behind-the-scenes crew who weren’t on stage but we honestly couldn’t function without! Chantelle for your endless tautoko and allowing us to hold space in Kapa Haka to prepare for Polyfest. Our very own Pule aoga Rowan, thank you so much for sacrificing your time and energy for our tamaiti. From ensuring we had all we needed to get this roopu Polyfest ready, to baking in the sun at Polyfest with us. Emma, from screen printing, to sewing, even joining us at practices, catering, administration, uber services and general caretaker for our tamaiti through it all, fa’afetai, fa’afetai tele lava.

We appreciate you all!

This event has ignited a desire to continue adding to our kete of Pasifika items. Our tamaiti are very eager to tap into more of their cultural identity as Pasifika, but even those who don’t whakapapa Pasifika are keen to learn and be part of future performances. We open the invitation to anyone who wants to come in and share and teach any items to add to our growing kete of Pasifika Greatness.