Wellington Pasifika Festival

Overview

The Wellington Pasifika Festival is a one-day annual event that attracts more than 15,000 people from all over the Wellington region. It features a celebration of traditional and contemporary Pacific food, music and activities.

This year the festival is being held on Saturday, January 20 at Odlins Plaza on Cable Street. The day is short, from noon to 6pm, but there is a jam-packed program. The event will begin with an opening blessing followed by a customary welcome speech by Wellington Mayor Justin Lester.

The festival provides a variety of traditional pacific music and dance as entertainment. Festival-goers of all ages can take part in arts, crafts and sport. In previous years, attendees have dubbed the assorted food the main attraction. This year, the Pacific Cuisine Cook-Off is bound to entice a large audience, eager to delight in the smells, sounds and flavours of traditional Pasifika culinary art.

Hype has surfaced on social media surrounding celebrated recording artist, Fiji, who will bring his mix of modern Polynesian and island reggae to close the festival.

Image: Mark Coote.