Star-studded line-up announced for Pasifika Festival 2006
Auckland City is proud to announce a star-studded line-up for the 2006 Pasifika Festival that features a mix of hot
headline acts and budding future stars handpicked from the Expressions Pasifika auditions held last November.
The free Air New Zealand Opening Night Concert will be held on Friday 10 March from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Western Springs
Stadium and promises a snapshot of some of the festival's hottest performers. It will showcase the vast array of
Pasifika traditional dance and contemporary song, while also having an emphasis on the cultural roots of some of the
Pacific Islands involved with the festival. The line-up of entertainers confirmed for this concert includes:
Tha Feelstyle - a Samoan-born hip hop artist who cleaned up three awards at last year's Pacific Music Awards
Nesian Mystik - founded in the music room of Auckland's Western Springs College in 1999, the group is a cultural mix of
Polynesia, bringing together Maori, Tongan, Samoan and Cook Island ancestry. Their infectious blend of Pasifika-infused
R 'n' B and hip-hop saw their 2002 album 'Polysaturated' go four times platinum and they have the unprecedented
achievement in recent New Zealand pop history of having four singles achieve Top Ten status
Adeaze - a two-piece R'n'B duo whose debut album went to number 1 on the NZ album charts and gained double platinum
status selling over 37,000 copies. Mariah Carey sampled their production of (A Life with You) on her latest Award
winning Album, "The Emancipation of Mimi"
Sara-Jane Auva'a - winner of 'Best Female Pacific Artist" at the 2005 Pacific Music Awards and hugely popular Pasifika
Festival performer. Sara-Jane has a new Pacific sound that fuses R'n'B, hip hop and classic Pacific Island rhythm. She
has recently returned from a successful tour of the United States
Julie Ta'ale - a solo performer who sings contemporary R'n'B. She is a former member of girl group Pacific Soul who won
the Best Pacific Album at the NZ Music awards 2003
A number of cultural groups including Te Riri O te O Dance Group (Cook Islands) and a Fijian Gospel Choir.
On Festival Day (Saturday 11 March) you can see these performers again as well as enjoying a complete immersion
experience of Pacific Island culture. Eight Pacific Island villages will provide everything from workshops and
demonstrations to traditional food, cultural performances and handicraft, each showing what it is that makes their
culture unique. Festival Day runs at the all-new time of 10am to 5pm this year. The programme also includes the
following acts:
Spacifix - winners of previous Expressions Pasifika auditions. A 10-piece group of 15 to 20 year-olds from West Auckland
who are fast building a reputation for their captivating and explosive live performances. They will be playing at
Waiheke's Little Day In concert (part of the Music in Parks series) on Anniversary Weekend
Dziah - A South Auckland dance crew, comprising 11 dancers aged 17 to 24, who are a multi-cultural group containing
Samoan, Maori and Niuean. They recently finished eighth out of 26 international dance crews at the Hip Hop World Dance
Champs in Los Angeles
BDS - a talented hip hop crew
Beatrootz - a Wellington-based band who are sure to move the crowd with their unique and catchy tunes. Their original
track 'No DJz' took out the '2004 Coke Launchpad' competition
Dcypher- picked from the Expressions Pasifika auditions. A young energetic all girl hip hop dance crew from south
Auckland - smooth and professional
Werry Girls - Young vocalists with mature attitude and a strong sound
Nafatali & Aurasta Reggae Band - picked from the Expressions Pasifika auditions. A tight Samoan reggae band who are sure to be
crowd pleasers.
Pasifika Festival entertainment director, Rick Tuiasau, says he is excited about the line-up he has booked and his
"finds" from the Expressions Pasifika auditions.
"I'm really looking forward to introducing a crop of new Pacific talent to festival audiences" he says.
Pasifika Festival 2006 will be held at Western Springs stadium and lakeside on 10 and 11 March. It starts on Friday with
the spectacular Air New Zealand Opening Night Concert at the stadium, and concludes on Saturday with a full day of
performances, entertainment and festivities.
Pasifika Festival is one of more than 60 free events provided by Auckland City as part of the Ak@Play summer events
programme. It is proudly sponsored by Air New Zealand, Radio 531pi, SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand), The New
Zealand Herald, Flava 96one, APRA and the NZ Music Industry Commission, and Western Union Money Transfer. The festival
is supported by Fonterra Brands (Tip Top) Limited, McCallum Industries Palm Corned Beef and Spasifik Magazine and funded
by Creative New Zealand.
Ends