Since Aotearoa is in the Southern Hemisphere, it has actually been summer here for the past few months! Before the weather starts to get cooler is the perfect time to spend time outside. Luckily for me, there are lots of amazing events going on outdoors! One incredible festival that I got to attend a few weeks ago was a "Siva Afi Festival". A couple of weeks before that was "Te Matatini". These were both amazing events with many skilled performers!
The two traditions I learned more about in the last couple of months are called "siva afi" and "kapa haka." I went to the two-day Siva Afi Festival in Māngere, which is in South Auckland. Have any of you seen siva afi? Does anyone in your class practice siva afi? I had never witnessed it before, and I was so amazed! Siva afi is Sāmoan fire-knife dancing. Dancers light both ends of their knives on fire, and spin them in really fast circles all around their bodies! Sometimes they pass the knives on fire between their legs; sometimes they throw them up high in the air. The festival was a competition, so everyone was very skilled! The first day was the junior and intermediate divisions and the second day was the experts. I was so shocked when the announcers told us all that some of the contestants were as young as 9 or 10 years old!
