“Though we speak different languages, we may dress different, dance a little different, but we are all one in the same people of the ocean” – Alipate Traill
While Halloween festivities were taking place across Aotearoa on October 31st, Melanesian communities gathered for a celebration of their own.
Flaunting their vibrant cultural attires, hundreds gathered at the Waitemata Rugby Club Grounds to ‘kilim grass’ as they celebrated five years of the Melanesian Festival.
Festival director and founder Alipate Traill says this year is all about celebrating unity.
“Unity means diversity,” he says.
“Our theme is Yumi tugeta – One people, one solwara. So, its meaning [is], though we come from big islands, people look at the ocean as a division that divides us, but we look at it as a connecting element,” he says.
“Though we speak different languages, we may dress different, dance a little different, but we are all one in the same people of the ocean.”
Launched in 2022, the Melanesian Festival provides a space for communities from Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and Torres Strait to be celebrated and to strengthen ties to their homelands.
Proud Solomon Islander Bernadette Loloselo says the annual event weaves a connection to culture and heritage, especially for the youth.
“Some of them haven’t been to Solomons, and some of them were little when they came [to Aotearoa], so all that they knew from the beginning was like getting into the culture of New Zealand, learning English and all that. And now, we’re taking them back home through our music and dance,” Bernadette says.
Lining the grounds, stalls decorated in cultural artefacts, artworks and traditional food transported festivalgoers into the vibrant cultural heritage of Melanesian communities.
Hailing from Torres Trait Islands, PNG, Solomon Islands and Fiji, proud Melanesian Juliana Satchell says the most important part of the festival is seeing and hearing all her cultures be represented in one space.
“I’m really far away from home… and so I think it’s being able to walk around and go hey Wontok, halo sis’sa and it’s like halo bala,” Juliana says.
“It’s [also] giving the children more aunties and more cousins because sometimes when you do move, you leave a lot of that behind. You leave your village, you leave your families, so to be able to have families amongst Vanuatu, Solomon, and Papua New Guinea and Fiji communities is so beautiful.”
At the heart of it all, Alipate says it’s the youth who continue to drive the growth and future of the Melanesian Festival.
“I’m really proud of our youth. The kids have grown up in the festival. Five years ago, they were all like little toddlers, little kids running around, now they’re all taller than we are,” he says.
“These are our teenagers who have grown up and they’re proud of themselves and it’s hard to be proud when you feel disconnected from the land, from your island home. For me, that’s the main thing, is our youth. That they have a place they call home and that they can be proud amongst all our other beautiful cultures here in New Zealand.”
Looking ahead, Alipate has big aspirations for the future of the Melanesian Festival. Following five successful years, he hopes to see the event grow into a two-day celebration with a greater focus on youth leadership and the next generation stepping up.
