Pasifika Made | Brisbane Festival Street Serenades
Image supplied by Brisbane Festival
Brisbane Festival’s Street Serenades have been bringing the party to the suburbs since 2020 and this year's Pasifika Made addition to the program brought the islands to Kuraby.
Right next to Kuraby train station, Pasifika Made had music pumping and the smell of cooking wafting over Wally Tate Park for a beautiful sunset event. The crowds rolled in quickly, showing how eager audiences are for free, community oriented festivals like this. With a skatepark and a basketball court, it was the perfect spot to entertain kids while the adults relaxed on camping chairs and picnic mats.
Even though the event only ran for four hours they really packed in a full mini festival. I started by wandering around to look at the market stalls with clothing, weaving and art. The usual mini Street Seranades truck stage was being used to hold workshops. When I arrived Lilikoi Kaos was taking a small crowd through some hula hooping and later Tilomai dance academy ran a Siva Samoa workshop. I thought it was amazing to have some active ways for people to participate in culture and it embodied the generosity of Pasifika cultures, it was about sharing, not just observing from the outside.
My favourite way to participate in my own culture is with food so I was excited to see an umu, a Samoan above-ground oven, set up over a fire in a corner of the park. I watched the demonstration for a while as the fire was stacked up over the river rocks and right before I left I watched as the tin foil packets of fish and taro were pulled off the fire and served up in woven coconut palm plates.
The main attraction of the night was the main stage in the middle of the park and I settled in with a delicious barbeque plate to watch the performances. The night was Mc’d by Taitu'uga Kitch and Joe Fa’agase, who charmed the crowd and kept the energy high all night.
There was dance from Heilani productions, MR MR, and Mamana academy, among others. The diversity of the Pacific Islands was represented and it was great to see so many people repping their nations and traditions proudly. I particularly enjoyed the performance from the dancers from Manus Island in PNG. There was music as well, and Oliva Foa’i in particular blew everyone away with her beautiful voice. Lisa Fa’alafi brought some heat with the last act, a blend of spoken word, dance and circus and I think the performance program overall had something for everyone.
Pasifika Made was a beautiful way to spend a Saturday evening and I left with my heart and stomach full. Brisbane's Pacific community has so much talent to offer and I know I’m not the only person desperate to see more of this kind of programming from Brisbane Festival in the future.
‘Pasifika Made’ was held on 21 September at Wally Tate Park, Kuraby as part of the Street Serenades program of the 2024 Brisbane Festival.
