Auckland Council’s International Cultural Festival has been renamed and now has a new 10-day festival wrapped around it.
The new World of Cultures festival runs for 10 days from 19-28 March across the region and focuses on the rich diversity of cultures within Tāmaki Makaurau.
It will culminate with CultureFest on Sunday 28 March, a one-day celebration with more than 55 cultures represented.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says the festival aims to be the most vibrant and culturally inclusive in New Zealand.
“Tāmaki Makaurau is home to people of more than 220 ethnicities, making it one of the most diverse cities in the world,” he says.
“Auckland Council’s World of Cultures and CultureFest celebrate this incredible diversity and the vibrancy it brings to Auckland through food, arts, music, dance and performance. The new festival format will help make this celebration available to even more people across our region.” - Auckland Mayor Phil Goff
World of Cultures kicks off on Friday 19 March and will occur in art and community centres throughout Tāmaki Makaurau.
Included in the program will be workshops, performances, discussions, and art installations.
David Burt, Manager of Events for Auckland Council highlights how important World of Cultures will be.
“Community feedback has highlighted that people wanted a longer festival dedicated to celebrating our culturally diversity and make it accessible to as many Aucklanders as possible,” he says.
“Auckland Council has listened to that feedback and have created World of Cultures to improve access and interaction with multiple communities.”
CultureFest
Alongside the introduction of the ten-day World of Cultures, the Auckland International Cultural Festival has been renamed CultureFest,
Councillor Alf Filipaina, Chair of Auckland Council’s Parks, Arts, Community and Events Committee, says he’s excited about how CultureFest has evolved.
“To have our communities request these changes and for those to then be adopted is really encouraging,” he says.
“It shows what we at Auckland Council want to see more of – true partnership between communities and the governing body.
“I can see this becoming one of the signature events for our region.”
David Burt says that changes to the festival are not just limited to the name.
“Our communities asked for Māori culture to be better highlighted within the festival programme.
“As a result, this year’s CultureFest will open with a mihi whakatau (a welcome), a waharoa (entranceway) will welcome people to the park and we will have the introduction of Te Pā Harakeke, an interactive sharing and learning space where Aucklanders can experience and learn about Māori practices, including hāngī, mirimiri (massage), whakairo (carving).”
The name “CultureFest” was adopted because it was widely used by participants already and had a natural fit.
It was also one of the most popular names suggested by the community, who also requested that the word “international” no longer be used as a way of including all cultures including Māori.
World of Cultures and CutureFest are supported by the Department of Internal Affairs Ethnic Communities Development Fund and Foundation North.
