Marcellin College

Auckland Polynesian Festival

Our project

Polyfest was an important event in our lives this year as we were all members of the Tongan group that which performed at this festival. We are all proud of our Tongan Culture, which is our living heritage. We are recording what we have discovered about how this huge festival was organised and also how and why we participated.

The reason for Polyfest is to showcase the talents of young people from the many different cultures in New Zealand, especially Maori and Pacific cultures and to bring these groups together. It is a very important annual festival in the Auckland region as it is the largest Polynesian festival in the world.

The Polyfest has been held in a variety of different places. It started at Hilary College in 1976 and was hosted by a different school each year until it became such a large event that from 1995 onwards it shifted to the Manukau Velodrome ( Sportsbowl) where stage areas are built for the different cultures.

Our Tongan group will continue to compete in this festival against groups from different schools around Auckland. We think it is a great and important occasion to celebrate our culture.