Tukufakaholo - Heritage and Pacific Voices

Step into the vibrant world of Pacific connections at this year's Heritage Festival!

Kicking off our afternoon festivities, we’ll premiere the newest film from the series Ngako: The Collections Talk. The documentary and podcast series explores taonga from the Auckland Council Libraries' Heritage Collections.

This film looks into the 1817 book by William Mariner ‘An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean', a portrait of pre-colonial Tongan life. With interviews with Pasifika specialist librarians and members of the Tongan community, we unravel the learnings from this time through melodies and dance traditions that continue to resonate in Tongan music today.

This will be followed by a live interview featuring the hosts of the podcast Island Roots - Auckland Ways, Allyssa Verner-Pula, and Mariner Fagaiava, and The Moanan podcast with Suelaki (Laki) Tiatia and Genezy (Gen) ‘Ilolahia. Be part of the live audience for what will be an engaging talanoa.