City of sails celebrated its 176th anniversary
Auckland celebrated its anniversary weekend with a bang as it saw live performances, cultural displays, helicopter rides, ferry rides, Waka rides, street plays, etc. The city’s wharfs were full of colors as people thronged to witness a successful event that portrayed the true multi-cultural spirit of Auckland.
The queen’s wharf, over the weekend, bore a new look as it hosted the Tamaki Herenga Waka festival. As early as 10 in the morning, people witnessed a tugboat race. Tugboat is usually a boat used to pull larger vessels in the port and the ones that participated, flaunted their maneuverability with waterborne stunts much to the awe of the spectators.
There was also beautiful display of Maori history, heritage and contemporary culture. There were village workshops, storytelling and koru lounges, marketplace for Maori artwork, medicine and food stalls etc. One could just walk through these workshops to experience and be a part of Maori village games, Maori massage therapy and traditional medicinal workshops, wooden art-craft workshops etc. Right throughout all the three days, Te Kai Maori, a 90-minute Maori culinary experience workshop was there to be taken up at a nominal price taking one deep into the lives of Maori lifestyle.
As one came out of queens wharf, there were many road shows where stuntmen showed their skills on bikes, the big wheels, wooden poles, etc.
At Captain cooks wharf which hosted ‘Seeport weekend festival’, welcomed its visitors with a free ferry sightseeing ride to all the ports and wharfs of Auckland. It had stalls hosted by army, navy, air force, scouts & guides etc along with the stage holding live performances by Auckland symphony orchestra. Between all of these, the one that stole the show was the seven-minute helicopter ride around the CBD area for just $69 per head. Throughout the day the two helicopters took people for an aerial ride giving them views of the harbour bridge and CBD skyline.
On the Princes wharf, people were taken on free Waka rides into the waters and were explained the ancient Maori way of travelling by sea. Dragon boat race was organized at the Viaduct harbor on Monday, which was again flocked by people who cheered for the winners.
Sudhanshu Mishra, who belonged to the touring group from Mumbai said,” We didn’t know there was this festival being celebrated here in Auckland. It was a pleasant surprise for all of us. I am really having a blast. Helicopter ride was brilliant and now I am waiting to get into the ferry.”
The only let down was the fireworks organized at the Captain Cook wharf where the 6000 strong audience saw in shock as shift in wind saw embers falling on the crowd and injuring four people who were given immediate medical attention. The fifteen-minute event was then cut down to seven.
Though the accident at the firework event let the people down a bit, the event as a whole was organized extremely well. Auckland council which hosted the event, deserves to be congratulated for hosting an event of this magnitude in an efficient manner. After all the festivals such as these are the real showcases of the multi-ethnic and multi-traditional nature of our city.
Auckland celebrated its anniversary weekend with a bang as it saw live performances, cultural displays, helicopter rides, ferry rides, Waka rides, street plays, etc. The city’s wharfs were full of colors as people thronged to witness a successful event that portrayed the true multi-cultural spirit...
Auckland celebrated its anniversary weekend with a bang as it saw live performances, cultural displays, helicopter rides, ferry rides, Waka rides, street plays, etc. The city’s wharfs were full of colors as people thronged to witness a successful event that portrayed the true multi-cultural spirit of Auckland.
The queen’s wharf, over the weekend, bore a new look as it hosted the Tamaki Herenga Waka festival. As early as 10 in the morning, people witnessed a tugboat race. Tugboat is usually a boat used to pull larger vessels in the port and the ones that participated, flaunted their maneuverability with waterborne stunts much to the awe of the spectators.
There was also beautiful display of Maori history, heritage and contemporary culture. There were village workshops, storytelling and koru lounges, marketplace for Maori artwork, medicine and food stalls etc. One could just walk through these workshops to experience and be a part of Maori village games, Maori massage therapy and traditional medicinal workshops, wooden art-craft workshops etc. Right throughout all the three days, Te Kai Maori, a 90-minute Maori culinary experience workshop was there to be taken up at a nominal price taking one deep into the lives of Maori lifestyle.
As one came out of queens wharf, there were many road shows where stuntmen showed their skills on bikes, the big wheels, wooden poles, etc.
At Captain cooks wharf which hosted ‘Seeport weekend festival’, welcomed its visitors with a free ferry sightseeing ride to all the ports and wharfs of Auckland. It had stalls hosted by army, navy, air force, scouts & guides etc along with the stage holding live performances by Auckland symphony orchestra. Between all of these, the one that stole the show was the seven-minute helicopter ride around the CBD area for just $69 per head. Throughout the day the two helicopters took people for an aerial ride giving them views of the harbour bridge and CBD skyline.
On the Princes wharf, people were taken on free Waka rides into the waters and were explained the ancient Maori way of travelling by sea. Dragon boat race was organized at the Viaduct harbor on Monday, which was again flocked by people who cheered for the winners.
Sudhanshu Mishra, who belonged to the touring group from Mumbai said,” We didn’t know there was this festival being celebrated here in Auckland. It was a pleasant surprise for all of us. I am really having a blast. Helicopter ride was brilliant and now I am waiting to get into the ferry.”
The only let down was the fireworks organized at the Captain Cook wharf where the 6000 strong audience saw in shock as shift in wind saw embers falling on the crowd and injuring four people who were given immediate medical attention. The fifteen-minute event was then cut down to seven.
Though the accident at the firework event let the people down a bit, the event as a whole was organized extremely well. Auckland council which hosted the event, deserves to be congratulated for hosting an event of this magnitude in an efficient manner. After all the festivals such as these are the real showcases of the multi-ethnic and multi-traditional nature of our city.
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