The Moana Nui Festival returns to Forsyth Barr Stadium next week for its fourth outing.
The event run by Pacific Trust Otago highlights the culture and heritage of Pacific Island communities.
Chief executive Faanimo Elisara-Too said the celebration had become a vital platform for sharing and honouring Pacific identity.
"I think the whole purpose of Moana Nui and many other initiatives like Moana Nui is to provide that platform where our people, our Pasifika people, can come together to showcase who we are and what we do and what makes us unique," she said.
A highlight this year is a new micro-fiction competition devised by Pacific Trust Otago board member Stacey Kokaua-Balfour.
"The fact that we have developed something that is uniquely from our team is super exciting," Elisara-Too said.
Winning entries will be read aloud at the event.
Another feature will be the official launch of the trust’s youth development project.
The three-year initiative will include community outreach, partnerships with schools and local groups and a strategic plan to engage Pacific youth.
After many years of discussion, it was exciting that it was now coming to fruition, she said.
"We are mindful, too, that we are not in this alone, we have got the support of many of our partners, many of our communities and organisations who share the same values and share the same mission that we have."
Before the event, the trust has been running food safety and waste management workshops for stallholders.
"Actually, in the islands we are more sustainable than we are here and we come to these nations and we think we have forgotten how we used to do things."
At the event, "waste warrior" volunteers will help sort items to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Ten stalls representing 12 cultures will be taking part in the celebration.
The festival has the blessing of mana whenua.
"We want to pay homage to them of always being supportive of our Pacific people.
"We want to embrace all the values of te Tiriti — for us it is not a matter of just box-ticking, it is actually how we live and how we do things."
She thanked funders, friends and family who had all played a role in ensuring the event went ahead.
"We are excited about, once again, bringing the Pacific to the back door of our beautiful city of Dunedin," Mrs Elisara-Too said.
Moana Nui Festival
Forsyth Barr Stadium
Saturday, March 29
10am-3pm
Free entry
