2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Full circle moment for Polyfest performer
Mīharo Murihiku Trust programme and events lead Kheejay Thompson-Tonga is looking forward to putting on the 2025 Murihiku Polyfest event. PHOTO: NINA TAPU
When rangatahi bring the best of Māori and Pasifika culture to the Murihiku Polyfest stage next week, one Southland veteran performer will be cheering them on from backstage.
It has been 16 years since Kheejay Thompson-Tonga first performed as a 5-year-old at the cultural show.
She has appeared on stage as a performer and as an MC every year since the festival started in 2010.
This time the 21-year-old, of Māori and Cook Islands descent, will lend her services to the event through her role with the Mīharo Murihiku Trust.
Thompson-Tonga said it was a full circle moment for her to now be one of the people organising the show.
"Mīharo are dedicated to providing full circle moments . . . by encouraging young people and giving them opportunities through the rangatahi workshops," Ms Thompson-Tonga said.
"I was fortunate to be involved in that, and once I was old enough, they [Mīharo] gave me the chance to get a job with them."
She hoped this year's show would not just be about performing for the audience, but creating lasting connections with the community.
"We encourage the rangatahi to embrace the Māori and Pasifika cultures through cultural expression, but it is also about making whanaungatanga (family connection) with their community, which is important," she said.
The festival organisers believed that bringing different cultures together in one space helped bring the community together.
The Murihiku Polyfest is in its 16th year and over 8000 performers are expected to take the stage for a week-long celebration of Māori and Pasifika performing arts at ILT Stadium Southland.
Southland early childhood education centres to secondary schools will take part in the event.
An extra rangatahi night for secondary school performances has been added, due to the increase of high school entries in the festival.
Murihiku Polyfest will run from August 14-18, from 9am-3pm daily. Entry is by gold coin donation.
