Photo: RNZ / Tiana Haxton
Auckland's Pasifika Festival is moving onwards and upwards after a difficult few years.
The long-running event has faced its fair share of challenges.
The festival was cancelled in 2019 following the Christchurch mosque attacks, then again in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2023 the festival went ahead but took a very different tone, held just weeks after storms devastated much of Auckland.
At the same time, rumours swirled the event was facing budget cuts, though it managed to avoid the axe.
Last year's festival was something of a return to form, and organiser Jep Savali says it's still tracking upwards.
"I mean Covid changed everything for everyone, didn't it? And then hard on the heels of that we had the Auckland anniversary floods and certainly it changed the landscape in terms of events generally," he said.
"But in saying that I think we're just starting to get back onto that growth curve and we're positively moving upwards and onwards."
Savali, the group manager for major events at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, said after five years the city's events sector had finally recovered from Covid-19.
"Right across the industry we're hearing conversations that we're basically almost back to pre-Covid levels," he said.
In fact, he believed the festival was thriving.
"We are definitely on a growth curve and we're seeing improvement in the festival year on year and so with that there's more activation, we've got young bright stars in the arts and cultural world that are coming through."
Mount Albert MP Helen White said the central suburbs had long embraced the Pasifika Festival as a part of the community culture.
"I think the contribution of the Pacific community in Auckland's huge," she said.
"They have really contributed to the kind of richness of the culture and basically anchoring us in the Pacific."
Behind the scenes, Jep Savali said organisers had been working to make the festival better.
"What we've tried to really focus on this year is really keep our food and craft offering genuine and authentic," he said.
Authenticity had become an important topic in discussions with the Pasifika Village Charitable Trust, which advised on the cultural integrity of the festival.
"In our feedback to each other about how we can be better, where we can once again grow this festival, authenticity is really important. Authenticity of food offering, authenticity in terms of the cultural exchange, in terms of the performances."
The chair of the trust, Ena Manuireva, said it was vital the Pasifika Festival preserved and shared authentic practices.
"For me authenticity is to come to Fale Pasifika and to shave the coconut like we do on the island. That's authenticity," he said.
"You know, not use those different machines, electric machines. That's authenticity. For me, that's what we used to do. It's important that uniqueness is being displayed there."
Manuireva, born in Tahiti, said celebrating Pasifika gave him a taste of home.
"For me, for us, for the diaspora, I'm talking about Tahiti, we haven't got many people here from Tahiti. In fact, we are the smallest community," he said.
"For me, when I think Pasifika, I think, you know, home away from home. So that's for me, the Pasifika is my home."
Manuireva hoped to share the experience with Aucklanders when the Pasifika festival opened on Saturday morning at Western Springs Park.
