2023 OPS Arts & Cultural Festival
Saturday 25 November
The festival will go ahead next Saturday (25 Nov) regardless of the weather.
If it is fine we will be on the field.
If it is wet we will be in our Hall, with stalls in the outside staff car park.
We have been preparing for our Term 4 Arts and Cultural Festival with weekly practices. This is a very special event which celebrates the diversity of OPS.
On the day we have an outdoor stage set up on our field with a big sound system to play the music. Each cultural group performs over the afternoon. We also plan to have food stalls so whānau come buy food over the afternoon. Whānau come and bring rugs to sit on and settle in to enjoy the afternoons performances.
Our 2023 Arts and Cultural Festival is now very close. Many of you will not have been to this event before. It is a very special and unique part of our school’s calendar.
This year’s festival preparation has gone really well. We really appreciate the family members who are supporting the groups to get ready for their performance. The groups are looking and sounding fantastic. This year’s festival is going to be an amazing afternoon for the Onehunga Primary School Community.
All of our children are in groups to perform or share in some way. We strongly encourage whānau to take part in this event and bring their children along to be part of the group they have been practicing with most of Term 3 and 4.
It is crucial that we know which children will be there on the day to plan the final parts of the performances of each group. If your child/ren are not able to be here on the afternoon of Saturday November 25, please let your child’s teacher know as soon as possible.
Meeting Times, Costumes and Info for the day
As we have shared last week there is a table below with what time your child needs to be at school , what to wear and where to go to get ready for their performance.
If you do not have part of the costume for your child’s group please let the teacher leading the group know so they can see if they can borrow it for you. Please do not go out and buy items for costumes.
Performance Times
The festival is organised into 3 groups of performances. Until we have our dress rehearsal we can only give approximate times. We estimate the performance will finish around 3.45-4.00pm
These are the three blocks of performances in order…
Block 1 - 1pm start time
Welcome and opening
Kapa Haka - Senior and junior
OPS Choir
Filipino group
Chinese Fan dance
Scottish group
Karate Kata group
Messages
Block 2 - 2.05 pm start time - approximately
Trash to Fashion
Indian group
Senior Visual Arts
Sri Lanken group
Fijian group
Tongan group
American Lind Dance
Messages
Block 3 - 2.50 pm start time - approximately
Lewis Eady Music
Latin / Spanish group
Cook Island group
Samoan group
Junior Visual Arts
Niuean group
Japanese group
Closing Tauparapara
Wet Weather Postponement
We know our Auckland weather can be unpredictable! On Saturday 25 November we will go ahead rain or shine.
Fine Weather Plans
bring your rugs, sunhats, sunscreen and a picnic
there will be some food and drinks and crafts on sale on the field
children go to classes (where their group is meeting) as outlined later in this letter
performances start at 1.00pm
children will return to the room they met in after their performance
families are welcome to collect their child from the room they meet in straight after their child’s performance. Any children not collected will be brought to the field in the break following the performance. Families can get their children from this meeting point
Wet Weather Plans
As of today (Tuesday), we can not be sure of the weather on Saturday. While we hope this will change to a fine day, we have developed a wet weather plan.
We will make a decision on Saturday morning about whether to go with our rain plans of performing in our Hall.
If it is wet and we are in the Hall, we ask that families only come into the Hall for the block of performances their child is in and then move out at the end of the block. We know this is not ideal, but it is a better option than canceling the event after so much preparation and rehearsal! We thank you in advance for your support with this.
In the case of wet weather…
children will go to the classes (where their group is meeting) as planned in the information below. Please do not bring OPS children into the hall as we are going to be really limited with space. OPS children have seen all the performances at our dress rehearsal
children will move from classes to the hall just before they are due to go on stage. We will be using the centre aisle and the side doors to bring children on and off stage
the performances are organised into three blocks. We ask that families move into the hall for their child’s performance and then move out in the break at the end of the each set of groups
the centre aisle in the hall and the entry door must stay clear as groups will be entering or exiting through these doors for their performance
after a group has performed, they will return to their class ready for families to collect them
the carpark in front of the school will be unavailable so that food stalls can still operate in this area
performances start at 1.00pm
we understand that having this event in our hall is not ideal and thank everyone in advance for your flexibility and patience
Food Stalls and Craft Stalls
We have food and crafts on sale.
The stalls will all be raising money for our school - funds raised will go towards the OPS Shed project.
If you are interested in running a stall you can either…
Friends of the School stall - Sausage Sizzle, Ice Blocks and Ice Cream, please add your name if you can help on a stall, even 30 mins would help! sign up sheet or email Juliet
We would make sure you still get to see your children performing!
Cash For Stalls
Most of the food and craft stalls will be cash only. Please either bring cash or use one of several ATM machines along Onehunga Mall.
An Environmentally Friendly Event
As an Enviro School we aim to make this event as environmentally friendly as possible, and encourage families to bring their own plate, cups and cutlery if possible. There will be disposable options available on the day as well.
Bring Your Own Food
Families are also welcome to bring their picnic food and drinks to this event.
We look forward to seeing you all on Saturday November 18!
Smoke and Vape Free At OPS
All schools are legally required to be smoke and vape free. Please leave our school grounds if you need to smoke or vape.
Sorry No Dogs
We ask that you do not bring dogs to the festival on Saturday.
Parking & School Entry
The small gate onto the field will be open. All other gates will be closed.
The OPS carpark barrier arm will be closed. Please consider walking to our festival or near by the school or parking in the carpark down Gerrard Beason Place.
If you have questions, please contact the teacher leading your child’s group. If you are not sure who this is, your child’s whānau teacher should be able to help direct you to the correct person.
On The Day of OPS Arts and Cultural Festival - Meeting time, place, and what to wear.
Please note this is not an order of performance. It is just the meeting time on the day of the festival
On The Day of OPS Arts and Cultural Festival - Performance Blocks
Groups are organised as part of three blocks of performances. Please note that times are approximate.
Performance Times
The festival is organised into 3 groups of performances. Until we have our dress rehearsal, we can only give approximate times. We estimate the performance will finish around 3.45-4.00pm
These are the three blocks of performances in order…
Block 1 - 1pm start time
Welcome and opening
Waiata and Haka - Senior and junior Kapa Haka
Filipino group
Chinese Fan dance
Scottish group
Karate Kata group
Messages
Block 2 - 2.05 pm start time - approximately
Trash to Fashion
Indian group
Senior Visual Arts
Sri Lankan group
Fijian group
Tongan group
American Line Dance
Messages
Block 3 - 2.50 pm start time - approximately
Lewis Eady Music
Latin / Spanish group
Cook Island group
Samoan group
Junior Visual Arts
Niuean group
Japanese group
Closing Tauparapara