Embedded Files
Arts & Cultural Festival details
01/11/25 - Arts and Cultural Festival 1pm - 4pm (Saturday)
08/11/25 - Arts and Cultural Festival wet weather save day
We hold this very special event every two years. Every child gets to perform, or share, for whānau and friends as part of this event, which is held on a Saturday on an outdoor stage on our field. It’s a chance to celebrate and share our wonderfully diverse school community, and for some of our ākonga to really shine on stage.
We have made a quick video where some of our children who were involved in 2023 tell you about our Arts and cultural Festival…https://youtu.be/F86HQ6WaXNU
We acknowledge and appreciate the support of 'Creative NZ' - Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa
Get The T-Shirt!
Get The T-Shirt!
OPS Arts and Cultural Festival T-shirts are available to order until 3pm Thursday 30/10. All T-shirts ordered by midday Wednesday will be ready to wear on Saturday for our festival. Order and pay at our office.
Sample sizes are on display in our office. $30.00 for children’s sizes,
$40.00 for adult sizes.
Locations and arrival information for the day of the festival
Locations and arrival information for the day of the festival
This will be added to closer to the event.
Children will be brought back to the "Kids Pick Up AREA' after their performance to return to their whānau.
Where to go, What to wear and When - On the day
Where to go, What to wear and When - On the day
Programme for the Festival
Programme for the Festival
Please note that while we will aim to run to the programme, times are approximate only.
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 4.00pm
These are the three blocks of performances in order…
Block 1 - 1pm start time
Welcome and opening
Kapa Haka - Senior and junior
Kiwi - Kohanga and Paki
Enviro / sustainability
Jnr visual Arts
Karate
Snr visual arts
Trash to Fashion
Sri Lankan
Messages
Block 2 - 2.00 pm start time - approximately
Ukulele
James, Jack and Harrison
South African
Fijian
Niuean
Japanese
Filipino
Scottish
Glee Club
Tongan
Messages
Block 3 - 3.00 pm start time - approximately
Spanish
Cook Island
Hip Hop
Indian
Drama
Samoan
Messages
Closing Tauparapara
Food and Craft Stalls
Food and Craft Stalls
Friends of the School
Our Friends of the School (FOTS) are planning some exciting fundraising activities to make our Arts & Cultural Festival a truly special community event — and we’d love your help!
All funds raised on the day will go towards renewing our very limited & tired Kapa Haka uniforms, ensuring our tamariki can perform with pride in new, refreshed outfits.
🌏 International Food Stalls
Get a taste of our wonderfully diverse community! We’re inviting families to run their own self-managed international food stalls on the day.
Exclusive spots only (no double-ups on cuisine types)
$75 donation to the school for your stall space (more donations or proceeds are always appreciated!)
If you or someone you know would like to get involved, please complete the form.
🍰 Cake Stall
Love to bake? We’re calling on our talented school community to donate home baking for our ever-popular Cake Stall. Please bring your contributions along on the day to help us stock up!
🌿 Plant Stall
Got green fingers? We’re also seeking plant donations — seedlings, cuttings, potted plants, or flowers — to fill our vibrant Plant Stall.
👕 Uniform Donations
We’ll be running a Second-hand Uniform Sale, so if you have any clean, good-quality OPS uniforms at home, please drop them into the school office before festival day. It’s a great way to support sustainability and give uniforms a second life.
🎟 Summer Raffle
Our Summer-themed Grocery & Goodies Hamper Raffle will be drawn at the festival! Please help by donating two non-perishable items suitable for a summer hamper — drop them at the school office in the lead-up to the event.
🙌 Alumni Volunteers
We’re also reaching out to our Year 9 and above OPS alumni to come along and help out on the day — running stalls, selling raffles, face painting, and more! If you’d like to join in, please contact Marcelle or Serena, or sign up using the volunteer form (don’t forget to include your mobile number so we can stay in touch).
💵 Cash Is King!
Most stalls will be cash only, and there will be limited EFTPOS available, so please bring coins and cash to support our wonderful community stalls.
🙌 Volunteers – We Need You!
There are lots of ways to help on the day — running stalls, selling raffles, face painting, and more! Sign up on the form and put your name against what you’d like to do. Having enough helpers means that parents can enjoy their child’s performance without missing out, while keeping our festival running smoothly.
About this event
About this event
Preparing a cultural dance or creating visual art for an audience, strongly links to the NZ Arts curriculum. Our ākonga collaboratively engage in "Developing Ideas" and "Communicating and Interpreting" as they create and practice their performance, or create their visual art piece.
This process allows students to explore and express cultural identities ("Understanding the Arts in Context") while developing practical skills and knowledge to share their work meaningfully with others.
Our aim is to offer more groups for children to be part of in 2025 than the 18 we offered in 2023.
In 2023 we had…
Kapa Haka, Junior Kapa Haka, Tongan, Samoan, Niuean, Fijian, Cook Island, Japanese, Junior Visual Arts, Senior Visual Arts, Indian, Line Dancing (American), Filipino, Latino/Spanish - Cuban, Trash to Fashion, Sri Lankan, Scottish, Karate
For this event to be successful, we need lots of support from whānau. One of the ways you could get involved is by supporting with a performance group, along with one of our staff members.
Practices will start in Week 4 and will be every Wednesday from 2-2.45 pm. You could work together with another parent to support a group if you can't make it every week.
Every group will have a staff member supporting too.
🌱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 (non-alc) drinks to this event.
We look forward to seeing you all on Saturday November 1!
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 pets on the school grounds
There will be another update letter next week.
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.
You are welcome to get in touch with me if you would like to find out more, or have any questions - vholley@onehungaprimary.school, by calling our office 09 636 6256, or coming in to see me when you are in school.
Info shared 28/10
Info shared 28/10
Kia ora OPS whānau
The excitement around the school is high as we get closer to this Saturday, 1st November - the day of our Arts and Cultural Festival.
A huge number of people have been involved in preparing for this event, and the support from everyone is greatly appreciated. Children in our school have chosen an arts or cultural group to perform or share in one of the 25 different groups. While any large event like this requires huge commitment and organisation, it is always worth it when we see our children on stage proudly performing.
Dress Rehearsal - Friday
We will hold our dress rehearsal on Friday. If possible, we would like all children to be wearing their costumes. If it is wet, we will go ahead with the dress rehearsal in our hall.
Wet Weather?
With our very changeable weather, it is still hard to know if it will be fine on Saturday. We still hope to go ahead on our field.
We will make a decision on Friday, 31/10 morning about whether we need to postpone based on the most up to date forecast. This will be communicated by HERO, our website and Facebook page.
We have our postponement date of Saturday, 8/11, which we will move to if we need to.
OPS Arts and Cultural Festival T-shirts are available to order until midday on Wednesday. All T-shirts ordered by midday Wednesday will be ready to wear on Saturday for our festival. Order and pay at our office. Sample sizes are on display in our office. $30.00 for children’s sizes, $40.00 for adult sizes.
Included below is…
The performance order
Where to meet and at what time
What children should arrive in on the day
Ngā mihi nui
Viki Holley
Tumuaki / Principal
Onehunga Primary School
Friends of the School
Our Friends of the School (FOTS) are planning some exciting fundraising activities to make our Arts & Cultural Festival a truly special community event — and we’d love your help!
All funds raised on the day will go towards renewing our very limited & tired Kapa Haka uniforms, ensuring our tamariki can perform with pride in new, refreshed outfits.
🌏 International Food Stalls
Get a taste of our wonderfully diverse community! We’re inviting families to run their own self-managed international food stalls on the day.
Exclusive spots only (no double-ups on cuisine types)
$75 donation to the school for your stall space (more donations or proceeds are always appreciated!)
If you or someone you know would like to get involved, please complete the form.
🍰 Cake Stall
Love to bake? We’re calling on our talented school community to donate home baking for our ever-popular Cake Stall. Please bring your contributions along on the day to help us stock up!
🌿 Plant Stall
Got green fingers? We’re also seeking plant donations — seedlings, cuttings, potted plants, or flowers — to fill our vibrant Plant Stall.
👕 Uniform Donations
We’ll be running a Second-hand Uniform Sale, so if you have any clean, good-quality OPS uniforms at home, please drop them into the school office before festival day. It’s a great way to support sustainability and give uniforms a second life.
🎟 Summer Raffle
Our Summer-themed Grocery & Goodies Hamper Raffle will be drawn at the festival! Please help by donating two non-perishable items suitable for a summer hamper — drop them at the school office in the lead-up to the event.
🙌 Alumni Volunteers
We’re also reaching out to our Year 9 and above OPS alumni to come along and help out on the day — running stalls, selling raffles, face painting, and more! If you’d like to join in, please contact Marcelle or Serena, or sign up using the volunteer form (don’t forget to include your mobile number so we can stay in touch).
💵 Cash Is King!
Most stalls will be cash only, and there will be limited EFTPOS available, so please bring coins and cash to support our wonderful community stalls.
🙌 Volunteers – We Need You!
There are lots of ways to help on the day — running stalls, selling raffles, face painting, and more! Sign up on the form and put your name against what you’d like to do. Having enough helpers means that parents can enjoy their child’s performance without missing out, while keeping our festival running smoothly.
2025 OPS Arts & Cultural Festival
This Saturday 1 November from 1pm
(8 Nov is set as the wet weather save day)
Our 2025 Arts and Cultural Festival is in a few days! All information is also on our website. Many of you will not have been to this event before. It is a very special and unique part of our school’s calendar.
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 practising with most of Term 3 and 4.
We must 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 1, please let your child’s teacher know as soon as possible.
Meeting Times, Costumes and Info for the day
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. All information is also on our website.
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 4.00 pm
These are the three blocks of performances in order.
Block 1 - 1 pm start time
Welcome and opening
Kapa Haka - Senior and junior
Kiwi - Kohanga and Paki
Enviro/sustainability
Jnr visual Arts
Karate
Snr visual arts
Trash to Fashion
Sri Lankan
Messages
Block 2 - 2.00 pm start time - approximately
Ukulele
James, Jack and Harrison
South African
Fijian
Niuean
Japanese
Filipino
Scottish
Glee Club
Tongan
Messages
Block 3 - 3.00 pm start time - approximately
Spanish
Cook Island
Hip Hop
Indian
Drama
Samoan
Messages
Closing Tauparapara
Children who are performing
Children go to classes (where their group is meeting) as outlined later in this letter.
Performances start at 1.00 pm and the festival will finish around 4 pm.
Children will return to the room they met in after their performance and then be brought out to a collection area in the next break.
Children will come to the ‘Kids Pick Up Area’ (see Map) to meet their families after their child’s performance.
Wet Weather Postponement
With our very changeable weather, it is still hard to know if it will be fine on Saturday. We still hope to go ahead on our field.
We will make a decision on Friday, 31/10 morning about whether we need to postpone based on the most up to date forecast. This will be communicated by HERO, our website and Facebook page.
We have our postponement date of Saturday, 8/11, which we will move to if we need to.
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 Kapa Haka uniforms.
Friends of the School stalls - Please add your name if you can help on a stall, even 30 mins would help! sign up sheet
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 bring cash (in the form of coins if possible) or use one of several ATM machines along Onehunga Mall.
An Environmentally Whānau 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.
Toilets
We will have port-a-loos for use on the day (see map). School toilets will not be available for use.
Bring Your Own Food
Families are welcome to bring their picnic food and drinks to this event.
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 not bring dogs to the festival on Saturday.
Parking & School Entry
The 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 parking near the school.
We have a page on our website where we will update information about this event.
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.
Info shared 15/10
Info shared 15/10
Our 2025 Arts and Cultural Festival is 2 weeks away. Look out for updates in the newsletter on Thursday each week and remember all information is also on our website. 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 is going really well. We really appreciate the friends and whānau 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 our 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 1, please let your child’s teacher know as soon as possible.
Costumes
We ask that if you do not have part of the costume for your child’s group that you 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. Information about what your child will be wearing is in this letter.
Rehearsals
We really appreciate the family members who are supporting the groups to get ready for their performance. Your expertise and knowledge has meant our children are having amazing experiences! From next week rehearsals are every Tuesday and Wednesday from 1.45pm - 2.45pm.
We understand that family members who are supporting each group will not be able to make every rehearsal. The teacher involved with the group will run the rehearsal in this case.
We will hold a Dress Rehearsal in the week leading up to the festival. Every child will see all of the performances at our Dress Rehearsal.
Wet Weather Postponement
We know our Auckland weather can be unpredictable! We hope to be able to go ahead on Saturday 1 November. Because our event will ideally occur on our field, we have a postponement date (8/11) which we will move to if it is too wet.
On the day
Information about what to wear, where your child should go, and at what time is included below.
Please note the festival starts at 1pm and will finish about 3.45 - 4pm. Children will perform in one of three performance blocks and there will be a short break between each performance block. Some children will need to be at school before the 1pm start - next week we will share when your child needs to be at school, what they need to wear and where to go on the day. There will be reminders on display and announced on the day over the speaker.
Our Friends of the School (FOTS) are planning some exciting fundraising activities to make our Arts & Cultural Festival a truly special community event — and we’d love your help!
All funds raised on the day will go towards renewing our very limited & tired Kapa Haka uniforms, ensuring our tamariki can perform with pride in new, refreshed outfits.
🌏 International Food Stalls
Get a taste of our wonderfully diverse community! We’re inviting families to run their own self-managed international food stalls on the day.
Exclusive spots only (no double-ups on cuisine types)
$75 donation to the school for your stall space (more donations or proceeds are always appreciated!)
If you or someone you know would like to get involved, please complete the form.
🍰 Cake Stall
Love to bake? We’re calling on our talented school community to donate home baking for our ever-popular Cake Stall. Please bring your contributions along on the day to help us stock up!
🌿 Plant Stall
Got green fingers? We’re also seeking plant donations — seedlings, cuttings, potted plants, or flowers — to fill our vibrant Plant Stall.
👕 Uniform Donations
We’ll be running a Second-hand Uniform Sale, so if you have any clean, good-quality OPS uniforms at home, please drop them into the school office before festival day. It’s a great way to support sustainability and give uniforms a second life.
🎟 Summer Raffle
Our Summer-themed Grocery & Goodies Hamper Raffle will be drawn at the festival! Please help by donating two non-perishable items suitable for a summer hamper — drop them at the school office in the lead-up to the event.
🙌 Alumni Volunteers
We’re also reaching out to our Year 9 and above OPS alumni to come along and help out on the day — running stalls, selling raffles, face painting, and more! If you’d like to join in, please contact Marcelle or Serena, or sign up using the volunteer form (don’t forget to include your mobile number so we can stay in touch).
💵 Cash Is King!
Most stalls will be cash only, and there will be limited EFTPOS available, so please bring coins and cash to support our wonderful community stalls.
🙌 Volunteers – We Need You!
There are lots of ways to help on the day — running stalls, selling raffles, face painting, and more! Sign up on the form and put your name against what you’d like to do. Having enough helpers means that parents can enjoy their child’s Kapa Haka performance without missing out, while keeping our festival running smoothly.
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