‘Ko au te taiao, Ko te taiao ko au’ ASB Polyfest 2026
‘I am the environment, the environment is me’ - This was the theme for ASB Polyfest 2026 this year. A whakataukī that intertwines with the one PVA swears by which is ‘ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata’, ‘when the land is well, the people are well’. Acknowledging the interconnectedness that when we care for creation, we care for ourselves and can thrive.
Sera telling our youth about the food forest they can look forward to.
In our colourful stall we had a forest back drop of real plants and fruit trees with fruit bowl centre piece, creating excitement for the many fruits we will one day be able to harvest from our ‘Manukau Fruit Bowl’ food forest to be planted on the same whenua about 3 stalls down from where we were stationed. With all food scraps collected in our stall using our food scrap bin. We loved that students remembered us from previous years because of all the colour, plants, and they looked forward to doing a craft with us.
A wall of every day household items were strung up, that seemed recyclable but actually only 1 of the 12 could. It was a fun little quiz that participants were able to go into the draw to win a $50 prezzy card for simply answering what they thought it might be. It was shocking to most that all the plastics they saw couldn’t be recycled and revealed that the overall messaging for recycling was confusing - which got PVA thinking of ways we could make it easier for our communities to recycle right. We also questioned the use of the home food scrap bins was to try understand the deterrents so we can support people to start if they aren’t composting in other ways.
Kat quizzing rangatahi on recyclables and the council food scrap bins.
Our seedling station was a fun activity tamariki enjoyed, planting seasonal seeds such as silverbeet and pak choi that our nursery manager Ana would continue nurturing to maturity. It’s amazing how many rangatahi didn’t know what a broccoli seed looked like and they were even more amazed seeing what the seeds looked like straight off the plant. The broccoli and silverbeet seeds were amongst many that were harvested from our community hub ‘Boundary’.
Ana guiding tamariki through seed sowing.
A lot of students were curious about the display of homemade jarred foods that came out of our ongoing ‘Fill the pantry’ kaupapa, something they don’t often see. It brought up fond memories for some of mum’s and grandparents preserving fruit and jams and was encouraging for them to know we run workshops so they too can learn how to become more kai resilient.
We had the lovely Juliana doing a call out for Ōtara-Papatoetoe Eco-neighbourhoods, an initiative that aims to support our neighbour’s to dream up plans to connect with others in the community, and make it happen with funding from our local board.
MPI schooling kids on friends or foes. (left) Kathleen, Therese, Juliana and Sera in our PVA stall. (middle)
We also had the pleasure of hosting MPI as they raised awareness on the infamous oriental fruit fly that poses a risk for fruit and vege growers, making crops undesirable.
Another year of 4 beautiful days filled with the sounds of the Pacific, the foods of our islands, the beauty and passion of our youth for their customs and identity. A melting pot of colour, culture and connection. Thank you ASB Polyfest 2026! Creating a vibrant space for our Pacific people to embrace and showcase our unique cultures and beauty.
See more photos from our time, below.
