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Cultural Festival 2018, the Biggest yet

 

Events like the Cultural Festival remind us of who we are and why we are. Culture is what sparks exuberance. It can be as small as the way you style your hair or as big as your grandmother’s traditional feast on Sunday.

Whatever culture means to you, it should never be taken for granted. And at this year’s annual Sancta Maria College Cultural Festival, it certainly wasn’t. There was something different and more inspiring about this Festival than any other the school had experienced. By just standing in the middle of the main courtyard, all you could view was a sea of colour, everyone dressed in attire that represented their heritage or clothes that reflected their personality.

This year there was also a variety of exotic and delicious foods that many parents had worked tirelessly to prepare and with great food, performances and music it set the scene for a magnificent day.

Cultural Prefect Helen Pahulu says, “We wanted to create a festive and communal vibe to give everyone a Cultural Festival to not only remember but one in which they cherished the College’s multiculturalism and diversity.”

The best part of the day was seeing the students immersing themselves in the festivities and really enjoying it. Helen hopes that future Cultural Festivals will build on the communal and festive vibe and strive to become even bigger.

A group of students, parents and teachers sacrificed a lot of time and work behind the scenes to make the event possible. Ms Kevern, the main organiser and driving force behind the occasion, also sends a huge thank you to everyone who was involved including the parents who showed their support and no doubt are eager to be a part of it all again in 2019.

On a personal note, as a proud New Zealander of Samoan descent there is nothing more thrilling than seeing your culture on display. It is even more amazing when you see that everyone is willing to make an effort to share with you where they come from. I believe that what made the Festival so special was that the students forgot about being ‘cool’ and stepped away from just thinking that only certain people can have culture and really thought about what it meant to celebrate who they are and where they come from.

Culture is one of the many things that allow us to come together. Everyone comes from somewhere. Many of our families have come from countries all over the world, we have so many stories, rituals and a rich history to share. It isn’t until we discover pride in our culture and fully understand the cultures of those sitting next to us, that we realize we really are all one big family.

SMC 2018 Cultural Festival: http://bit.ly/2OV68vD

Shontelle Matano

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