Polyfest is a mixed festival where multiple of traditions and nationalities come and perform, usually High Schools are the ones to perform on stage, maybe because they’re much older and have more experience with big audiences.  This happens every year to show pride in the diverse languages and nations, to bring families and schools together in unity. It’s usually 4 days long and there’s six stages to compete – Cook Islands, Māori, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Diversity stage.

That’s how it is now but how was it then and how did become an offical occasion in Auckland?

In 1976, was the birth of the famous Pacific festival with the students and staff members, they suggested that the purpose of the event was to demonstrate the various cultural identities in pride so they could bring families and other schools together. The first Polyfest competition was held at Hillary College instead of a venue because it was only the start of the special event. Though only 4 schools participated and held at a small place, it was well supported by the students, school staff, parents and wider community and it was a huge success too.

The festival was still continuing over the past years and grew turning into different responsibilities that moved between schools. It was so big and popular, they needed to host it somewhere it can be more manageable so they decided to move it to a large venue in 1996. Manukau Sport’s Bowl has been the main home to the Polyfest, containing over 100,000 visitors every year over the past years, including with food stalls, community helpers, Pacific arts and culture. It was growing with number of students, taking part of the diverse range of traditional performances and speeches.

The past years, various of schools have been challenging at the Manukau Sport’s Bowl and they have never let down coming visitors, unfortunately they have cancelled the Polyfest 2 times, one in 2019 due a tragic event in Christchurch and again 2020 because of the Covid – 19 pandemic. In 2022, it was recorded livestream online, probably due to the current pandemic.

Although there were some errors, they stayed persistent to resume the festival and bring the passion and pride to everyone.

(Credits to ASB Polyfest)