The Pacific Festivals of Aotearoa New Zealand: Negotiating Place and Identity in a New Homeland

Abstract

The formation of cultural identity within the diasporic Pacific communities in Aotearoa New Zealand is the central concern here. Multi-layered in nature and riddled with incongruities as lived realities, identity negotiation is as complex and dynamic as the fieldwork site selected for the research basis of this publication – that is, the two major Pacific festivals held annually in Aotearoa New Zealand; Wellington’s Positively Pasifika Festival and Auckland’s Pasifika Festival.