Participants and visitors to last week’s Otago Polyfest have shared their reflections on the event with Oar FM listeners.
Oar FM community connector Arina Aizal and operations director Domi Angelo-Laloli were based at the festival village, recording short conversations with visitors to the radio station’s stall.
Memories of Polyfests past and present were recorded, as well as views on the festival’s impacts as a cultural celebration.
Interviews with visitors to last year’s event were broadcast on-site and live-streamed during the breaks between afternoon and evening performances, offering insight into the impacts of one of New Zealand’s longest-running Māori and Pacific cultural festivals.
Regular attendee Lashana Lewis said she had loved watching Polyfest grow from its origins as a one-day event.
“When we can look after each other as a community, that’s when our communities flourish. “These events totally support that whakaaro (idea).”
Watching the young performers had taught her how to pukana correctly, the traditional Māori facial expression used in haka and waiata to emphasise points and show intensity, emotion, or passion.
“How cool is that, to see Māori values alive and happening right before us, in person, in real life?”
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