Our signature event: Tauranga's Multicultural Festival
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A fun day out for the entire family
The 2017 festival turned out to be a great event despite a number of organisational challenges in the lead-up. Popular as ever, the event drew a huge crowd to the venue.
More than 30 food stalls, most of them run by ethnic community groups to raise funds for their organisation, were a major draw card. As every year, the culinary aspect is one of the key attractions for visitors. While free to set their prices, both community groups and commercial operators had made sure that tasting different international food was an affordable pleasure for the entire family.
Cultural performances on stage over the entire day included song and dance by over 20 ethnic groups. At midday, some 100 participants lined up for the Parade of Nations through the Village, this year led by a group of Korean drummers.
Preparations for construction of the TECT Community Hub near the Village Green had thrown a spanner in the works during planning of this year’s festival. The space constraints and, above all, the uncertainty as to from which date they would actually apply were a major challenge. However, overall it did work out well in the end. Multicultural Tauranga President and festival director Ann Kerewaro: “The festival was a very successful team effort, with the weather playing its part superbly. The lack of parking is a big issue which we will have to address for next year's event, and this could result in a different venue. Otherwise everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, soaking up the atmosphere created by the stall holders and the stage performers. In a nutshell: a great day.”
The 2017 festival turned out to be a great event despite a number of organisational challenges in the lead-up. Popular as ever, the event drew a huge crowd to the venue.
More than 30 food stalls, most of them run by ethnic community groups to raise funds for their organisation, were a major draw card. As every year, the culinary aspect is one of the key attractions for visitors. While free to set their prices, both community groups and commercial operators had made sure that tasting different international food was an affordable pleasure for the entire family.
Cultural performances on stage over the entire day included song and dance by over 20 ethnic groups. At midday, some 100 participants lined up for the Parade of Nations through the Village, this year led by a group of Korean drummers.
Preparations for construction of the TECT Community Hub near the Village Green had thrown a spanner in the works during planning of this year’s festival. The space constraints and, above all, the uncertainty as to from which date they would actually apply were a major challenge. However, overall it did work out well in the end. Multicultural Tauranga President and festival director Ann Kerewaro: “The festival was a very successful team effort, with the weather playing its part superbly. The lack of parking is a big issue which we will have to address for next year's event, and this could result in a different venue. Otherwise everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, soaking up the atmosphere created by the stall holders and the stage performers. In a nutshell: a great day.”
