Polyfest Performance!! (4/4/25)

I just finished polyfest!!! After a month of practices from monday to saturday after school and at lunch we finally made it to polyfest last friday <3, (hopefully this doesn't end up being a rant about the weather instead).

(For those that don't know what polyfest is, polyfest is a cultural festival that happens here in Aotearoa every year. This festival focuses on celebrating Polynesian and Māori culture through performances on different stages, in the festival various highschools from throughout the country to perform and rep their cultures. This is one of the biggest festivals in our country and also one of the most competitive as highschool students compete against eachother to win first place.) *Additional Info: There are 5 main stages which are Kapa Haka, Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islander and Niuean stage plus an additonal diversity stage where other cultures from around the world such as China, India etc... 

I've always looked forward to going to polyfest every year especially when I attend as one of the students apart of the performances, to me this festival has always been important to our pacific people living in Aotearoa as it gives us the chance to come together and celebrate our unique cultures. This festival holds a special place in my heart as it is an oppurtunity for us as young pasifika students to learn more about our culture and admire the traditions which have been bestowed upon us through generations. This year was especially important as it was the 50th anniversary since we first began this festival, 50 years of mothers, fathers, siblings and cousins coming together each year to support their family members as they watch them perform on the same stage as they used to years ago. Polyfest truly showcases the values engrained in countless pasifika cultures, I saw first hand the support within our families as I watched countless mothers, fathers, aunts and cousins (including mine) show up to their childrens practices every week, sitting dilligently at home/school or wherever working together to make their daughters costumes by hand. This support does not stem from only close relatives such as parents and siblings but it extends past them, as aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends come together to help, reminding us each year the importance of family as everyone comes together to uplift their children. I have always felt greatful for the oppurtunity to perform and watch the talent present in every group, especially this year, where I and countless students and their parents returned to the Tongan stage for the 50th anniversary. 

This year I joined Tongan group, we performed in the festivals biggest category (Maulu'ulu - Single Sex Schools) against roughly around 15 other schools. This year was probably one of the biggest years as we had 75 schools join this year, usually we have less because some schools only compete every 2 years or don't partake but this year we had a lot due to the important milestone. This year our group went on a friday which meant I didn't have to go to school!!! HOWEVER, this year we had the most shitttt weather I was fr abt to crash out - I got up at 7AM to get ready and it was raining, I knew it was raining bc I had checked the forecast but I thought it would stop raining in half an hour or so I did not really care AT THE TIME. Until I had to get in the bloody car and my clothes were fully soaked through before I even made it to the driveway because of how heavy the rain was AND THEN IT JUST GOT WORSE, so because of the non stop rain from 7am to 8PM unfortunately the Kapa Haka stage for that day had to be cancelled, and then there were rumours that the Samoan stagr would also be cancelled so I kind of assumed our stage would be cancelled by lunch. But that didn't happen, all of the stages were delayed especially our one we were delayed by about 2-3 hours, then I came back after going home after the first item and waited for 1 and a half hours after the time we were originally meant to go on in the wet rain with my crappy ass umbrella that broke 4 times at the slightest bit of wind sitting in a camp chair on the mud WITH EVERYTHING I HAD ON ME BEING SOAKED THROUGH even the jacket and whats worse is that I had so much expensive breakable shit on me like my camera, airpods and phone (luckily it just got wet, didnt break) and then we went on and tbh I thought we did really well but straight after that I gapped it and went home feeling like I was just sprayed with a hose for 3 hours, But then my family let me choose dinner and I fell asleep straight after because of how tired I was. I was so gutted because this year was such an important one and the rain made it so I couldn't enjoy it as much as other years. Overall, I enjoyed performing still and can't wait to go next year.