Wairarapa’s first Pacific Festival promotes healthy eating

Two thousand bottles of water and hundreds of pieces of fruit were given away at the first ever Pacific Festival in the Wairarapa. The festival was designed to promote healthy living, which meant fizzy drinks, sweets, chips and hotdogs were not sold.

However, lots of healthy food was on offer from the 16 food stalls. They offered food from Samoa, South African, Pakistan, Fiji and the Cook Islands, as well as traditional Māori dishes. One of the prizes for the healthiest food went to a community group from Samoa, who sold watermelon and fruit kebabs.

Other favourite dishes were low-fat potato mayonnaise, pasta and vegetable salad, steamed taro, pineapple pie, rewena bread and chicken salad. The food was so popular that all the stalls were sold out by midday.

Pacific Community Health Worker and organiser, Mata Emile from the Wairarapa District Health Board, showed her cooking skills to the crowds in two culinary demonstrations where she made Pacific salsa and a delicious tuna salad.

Mata says, “My healthy tuna salad involves draining the tuna and keeping the juices. I then cut up a selection of vegetables such as red, yellow and green capsicum, red onion, tomatoes, cucumber and silverbeet leaves. The dressing is olive oil, vinegar and the tuna juice. People loved the freshness, the colour and the crunchiness of the silverbeet and I’m sure they will be trying it at home.”

As well as food there were other stalls offering crafts and information on local health services. The crowds – over 2,000 – were entertained throughout the day by local Pacific community groups, schools, Cook Island drummers, and the Laughing Samoans.

“It was such a great success,” says Mata. “We had lots of positive feedback and people kept asking if we would do it again next year.

“Some Pacific people are still eating lots of high fat food and not exercising and this was a great way of opening their eyes to the healthier options in a fun way.”

The event was held on the Green Space in QEII Park on 15 March 2008. Mata says her next event will be a workshop on healthy eating. In the meantime, she’s hoping to organise a second festival in two years’ time.

Tips from Mata

• Applying for funding was relatively straightforward. I sought help from my manager and advice from other people in our organisation. It took about four hours over two weeks. “It will help if you plan ahead and are clear about your objectives, what you want to achieve and how you’re going to deliver it before filling out the form.”
• I have no experience with working with media so I sought advice and help from the communications advisor from the District Health Board. I explained what the project was all about and they wrote up a media release. I read it before it was sent out. Also make sure you interact with the Council. “If you’re not sure how to deal with the media make sure you get advice. You don’t have to do it on your own and make sure you check the media policy of your organisation too.”
• Participation is key to the success of the project. I worked with lots of people and agencies including Healthy Eating Healthy Action, the District Health Board, the Family Violence Network, our local Primary Health Organisation, Māori health providers, mental health providers the Cancer Society, the Heart Foundation and local Pacific community groups. “Getting the support of the community made a huge difference to the project. It brought people together and provided an opportunity to promote key messages that relate to their wellbeing.”
• Having a well-organised, committed committee helped make the project a success.
• Make sure you have sunscreen on hand, sun shades, and seats for older people. Also consider having a donation box - find a good charity - people were asking for this when they took water.
• Have St. John on hand – especially on a hot day.
• Don’t assume all booked entertainments will arrive. Have a ‘Plan B’!
• Don’t start planning too late – you need to start at least six to eight months before the event.