The audience wanted more by Luisa

The Cultural Festival has been held at Saint Patrick's School for many years, this year, in 2012, it was held once again in the Saint Patrick's Parish hall. With six groups to perform, the maori group was up first, and as our school stood up to sing the National Anthem, one of the girls in the group stood, focused, awaiting for her cue of the music to start. When it did, her voice filled the entire venue, inside and out and with that amusing introduction, the crowd stood simultaneously and sang in a slight awkward tone to the lyrics of our country's national anthem. Afterwards, the Kapa Haka group went into their national dance for their woman, the poi. With beautiful singing and swift movements of hands, the girls in the group onstage were exactly the definition of perfection, literally. Then from the peaceful tune of the girls singing, the boys, from my perspective, that had suddenly transmitted into men that very night, belted out with loud movements, and commands from their leader in the language that all native's of Aotearoa once used when all was in harmony with the discovery of the first ever tangata whenua. Not being able to watch the whole performance was a little disappointing however outside of the hall everyone was still able to hear what was going on inside and all were eager to claim seats of their own. Overall, the maori group was one of the best groups to step foot on the stage that night, with a lot of practise that brought meaning to their performance. Everything about it was amazingly stunning and made the whole audience want more from every member of the group.

Image source: Saint Patrick's School

The best cultural festival yet by Maria

 From my perspective, I think that standing in the spotlights is the best place to be while performing at the Cultural Festival, especially in front of an audience. Being a part of the Cultural Festival for eight years has been fun and a privllage because it has helped me gain confidence and leadership in cultural groups and has made me strive to be the best role model as a senior student in my school. My key highlight of the night was opening the festival. I was chosen as one of the leaders for the Kapahaka group of 2012. It was my responsibility to open the National Anthem with a traditional karakia, welcoming the people and family from the past. To get my timing right to the music I had to listen and be focused to come in at the exact time otherwise everyone would've missed the beginning. After the National Anthem we sang a Pasifika greeting. I would like to give a big  thank you to  the teachers and friends of our school for taking time to help and support  our Kapahaka group for 2012.