Amo Tauanuu Ieriko

Director of SIVA AFI FESTIVAL

Siva Afi Festival

The Siva Afi Festival developed from humble beginnings in 2019 into a two-day celebration of Pasifika culture through food, arts and craft and traditional storytelling all centred around the Siva Afi Ailoa competition.

The annual festival is held at Māngere Arts Centre in March. The first day of the festival is now dedicated to Wāhine Siva Afi performers and competitors, while the second day is the junior and senior Siva Afi schools’ competition. The “Wāhine Toa Afi” competition always opens with an all wāhine exhibition with a theme centred around fire. The competition section of both days sees judges from local and international reputation deciding on top three placings and a festival champion.

Participants from outside of Auckland come to the festival to compete and for two previous years Amo supported the competition running in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (the sister city for the Siva Afi festival).

The festival continues to grow and has seen up to 23 competitors and up to 900 attendees over the two days, with many more tuning in online. Well known MC’s are used on the day and performances from local Pasifika groups are showcased throughout the evening.