Auckland’s beloved Pasifika Festival is going back to its roots this weekend, returning to Western Springs and to the village atmosphere it has long been known for.

The festival kicks off on the main day, Saturday, officially opening the eight villages to the public through to Sunday.

The villages will feature 11 nations in the Pacific - Cook Islands, Fiji, Hawaii, Samoa, Niue, Tahiti, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Aotearoa - and will house all the traditional and contemporary Pacific Island delights known for those specific island nations.

With 48 food stalls around the park, members of the public will have many chances to give those foods a try.

A total of 51 retail stalls will also be on offer - bringing various island handicrafts, jewellery, products and clothing to the public.

Pasifika back to its roots

This year’s entertainment will feature a staggering 1000 performances; with each village in charge of its own stage programme throughout the two-day event.

The return to normality comes after years of disruptions for Pasifika.

Performers at the Tuvalu village at the Pasifika Festival in 2021, held at Mt Smart Stadium. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

In 2019, organisers were forced to cancel a week out from the event after the deadly mosque shootings in Christchurch on March 15 that year.

The next year, the pandemic the world knows all too well again forced a last-minute cancellation, after rising cases of Covid-19 started to show up in the community.

In 2021, the festival returned - but to a different location at Mt Smart Stadium.

A map of this year's Pasifika Festival at Western Springs Park this weekend. Image / Pasifika Festival

And last year’s event was again cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions on crowd numbers - limiting any event to only 100 people at the time. That festival, however, turned into a new event once restrictions were eased back - Taste of Pasifika.

A feature in last year’s event - dubbed Pacific Bowls - was so popular that it is being brought back.

The Pacific Bowls area will feature two spaces set up to allow for talanoa (discussion) and another area that invites members of the public to create various Pacific or Māori handcrafts like the poi.

The talanoa space will include a number of key speakers who will engage with visitors and speak on topics such Pacific history, cultural practices, insights from a queer or fa’afafine perspective, climate change and storytelling.

It is understood the initiative is another way of increasing engagement with those attending the festival.