Aucklanders celebrated diversity in style at the 18th edition of the Auckland International Cultural Festival 2017 held on Sunday, April 2 at Mt Roskill War Memorial Park in Mt Roskill. The cultural extravaganza brought together people from about 50 nationalities living in Auckland from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The organisers of the event estimate that more than 10,000 people visited the festival.
The fun-filled annual event organised by Auckland Council celebrated the diversity of the city through food, music, dance performances, arts and sports. The venue hosted more than 100 stalls that included food delicacies from different nations, clothing, cultural artefacts, and sports events.
The children enjoyed the bouncing castles, face painting, joy rides at the venue while the others delved into band performances and danced to the tunes of different ethnic music.
The performers represented Turkey, Thailand, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hawaii, Italy, Pacific Islands, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Ghana, Rwanda, Iran, Syria, India, Pakistan, Serbia, Mongolia, etc.
The Anujay School of Dance, Mt Roskill’s Bollywood Dance Group, Tamil NZ School of Dance, and the University of Auckland Indian Society were some of the many Indian groups showcasing the diverse, rich culture of India.
Two performance stages were set, one for the bands to perform live music and the other for the dancers. The other performances during the day included Romanian Folk Dance, Dalmatian Folk Society, Nepal, Taiwanese, Fijian, Arab, Egyptian, Moroccan dance groups and the Arabian Belly dancers.
Mixit- a popular dance group from Auckland, comprising of performers from Zimbabwe, Armenia, Afghanistan, Palestine, Sudan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand received a thunder of applause for their performance. The group started eleven years back and had been performing plays, skits and dance often based on the social disparity in the society and to break the stereotypes.
A group of African men played bongo at their stall while the crowd formed a circle and danced to their tunes.
“This is what Auckland International Cultural Festival is all about, it’s a melting pot of different cultures,” Ella Kumar, MC at the event and Puketapapa Local Board Member said.
The visitors attended various workshops, browsed the arts and craft stalls, or worked up an appetite playing some traditional Maori or Highland games. People gathered to learn Maori Kite making, explored Mama’s Hangi, Palestine made artefacts, Chinese Sugar Art, Malaysian Carriage, Pearl of Islands- Art and Crafts, etc.
The official section of the event concluded at 5 p.m., but the crowd flocked and lingered in the park enjoying the delicacies of different countries.