Pasifika Festival in pictures, as fans show up in their best outfits

Auckland’s Western Springs Park bustled with colour and music on Saturday as Pasifika Festival got underway on a warm, sunny morning after a night of heavy rain.

Visitors strolled from village to village with handfuls of warm kai, experiencing the different music, arts and languages that flourished across the park.

On the festival stages, musicians and dancers from young to old shared their art with spectators who stopped by on their weekend jogs, and families who made a trip out with parents and children.

Pasifika Festival is usually held in Western Springs every March, but a run of cancellations has forced the event out since 2018.

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Previously called ‘Taste of Pasifika’, it was cancelled in March 2022 due to Covid-19 but went ahead three months later in June.

In 2019, the festival was cancelled following the Christchurch mosque shootings and then in 2020-2021 due to the pandemic.

This year, the festival is back in force, and visitors showed up in their best lavalava, ei katu, puletasi, or hạ’ fạli, filling the park with colour, patterns and whakapapa stories.

Family-run food stalls were bustling by midday, whānau were cheering on performers on stage and for people needing something quieter, they were able to enjoy the new discussion and learning tents at the talanoa and ako bowls.

Here’s a selection of pictures from Stuff photographer David White.