The Indian Weekender, 10 March 2023

6
NEW ZEALAND
Friday, 10 March, 2023
Read online www.iwk.co.nz
Onehunga comes alive with
music, food, and fun at festival
NAVDEEP KAUR MARWAH
holders and all the wonderful people who
supported and had a great day out.”
Josephine Bartley, Councillor for
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki ward, who took her
niece and nephew with her to the festival,
said, “It was just awesome this year. I
took my niece and nephew with me this
time, and they enjoyed themselves. It was
great to chat with all the locals too. As
always, great work Onehunga Business
Association.”
Another attendee, Fiona Lal, stated, “It
was such a well-organised event! All the
stallholders and performers were good. I
loved the vibe.”
Angela Corbett, Events and
Communications Manager, Onehunga
Business Association, was delighted by the
overwhelming presence of the community.
She said, “It was truly wonderful to see
our community enjoying themselves,
“I had a blast at the Onehunga Festival. Meeting so many locals at my stall and chatting about what matters to them
was great, says Priyanca Radhakrishnan.
especially after the last few years with
Covid restrictions followed by the recent
severe weather events.
Events such as the Onehunga Festival are
important for the Kiwi-Indian community
to help them connect with others in their
local area and create a real sense of
belonging in the community.”
The Onehunga Festival 2023 on
Saturday (March 4) was a huge
success and saw a big turnout of
about 6,000 people who came out to
enjoy the event.
The crowd was seen making the most
of the beautiful weather and enjoying the
free entertainment and activities at the
Onehunga Bay Reserve.
The Cardboard Boat race, which Aotea
Sea Scouts organised along with the
Onehunga Business Association, attracted
much attention.
It was great entertainment to watch as
11 teams frantically paddled their handcrafted
boats, constructed entirely from
cardboard, duct tape, glue, cable ties and
waterproof paint, across the lagoon. It
was the second boat race to be held on
Onehunga Lagoon, the first being in 2021.
Sharing her experience of attending
the event and taking part in the race,
Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic
Communities Priyanca Radhakrishnan, who
is also MP for Maungakiekie, said, “I had a
blast at the Onehunga Festival.
Meeting so many locals at my stall and
chatting about what matters to them was
great. My entry, ‘The Pri-anchor Rudderkrishnan’
wasn’t the first cardboard boat
over the finish line, but she got us safely
across the lagoon.
"Huge thanks to the Onehunga Business
Association and all others who put on such
a stellar event and to my amazing team of
VENU MENON IN
WELLINGTON AND MAHESH
KUMAR IN CHRISTCHURCH
Indian classical music
enthusiasts in Wellington and
Christchurch were spellbound
as celebrated vocalist Arati
Ankalikar Tikekar performed in
the two cities last week.
The 60-year-old from
Karnataka is known for her
mastery over genres like khayal,
thumri, and bhajan. She kicked
off her first overseas tour since
winning India’s highest honour for
the performing arts, the Sangeet
Natak Akademi Award, with a
show in Wellington on March 4.
Tikekar said she was often
asked if New Zealand would offer
an audience appreciative of Indian
classical music. “We have to give
credit to our great tradition of
Indian classical music and also
to you [audience] for having
the love for our music,” Tikekar
told attendees at the Indian High
Commission auditorium.
High Commissioner Neeta
Bhushan pointed out love for
Indian classical music in New
Zealand extended beyond just
Bollywood. “It is truly momentous
and historic that, after receiving
the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Award, you have come to NZ and
performed for the first time on
the high commission premises.”
Event host Megha Barpande
introduced the accompanying
artists. Kishori Telang trained
as a vocalist under Tikekar,
volunteers.”
Other popular activities with the kids
included face painting, balloon twisting,
the mobile petting farm and The Bubble
Man. Children also had fun on the goliath
obstacle course, water rollers and other
inflatable amusements. Some of them
thoroughly enjoyed a tie-dying activity,
new to the festival, where they made and
took home their tie-dye t-shirt.
The stage entertainment also drew a
great crowd throughout the day with a
diverse mix of performances from local
cultural and dance groups, an acoustic set
by musician Chris Bates and songs to sing
and dance to from the band Hands Off.
As every event is incomplete without
some great food, there was a great range
of food on offer.
Debbie Burrows, Deputy Chair
Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board, said
this was the best Onehunga Festival. She
said, “Onehunga Festival 2023 celebrated
30 years of the Onehunga Festival with the
best one yet! Thank you to the amazing
team at Onehunga Business Association,
Onehunga Community Patrol, Onehunga
sea scouts, the sponsors, artists, stall
Indian classical music doyen Arati Ankalikar Tikekar wows NZ
Indian High Commissioner Neeta Bhushan addressing the audience
Arati Ankalikar Tikekar poses with guest in Chriustchurch.
while Wellington-based Sanjay
Dixit learned tabla under Gyan
Shankar Ghosh. Samir Bhalodkar,
an Auckland Transport employee,
has played the samvadini for over
two decades.
The event was organised by
Prashant Belwalkar of the Migrant
Heritage Charitable Trust, which
promotes Indian art and culture, in
collaboration with the Wellington
Maharashtrian Association.
Tikekar later attended an
event in Christchurch on March
Classical music superstars in Auckland on March 17-18
DEV NADKARNI
Megha Barpande (left) with Neeta Bhushan.
Auckland is all set to witness a musical
extravaganza as two stalwarts of Hindustani
classical music, Arati Ankalikar Tikekar and
Jayateerth Mevundi, are scheduled to perform at
Chinmaya Nikunj in Mangere on March 17 and 18.
Both the artists are on their respective Australia-
New Zealand concert tours.
Tikekar is a disciple of renowned vocalist Kishori
Amonkar. Mevundi is a protégé of legendary Pandit
Bhimsen Joshi and he won the Sangeet Natak
Akademi Award in 2017.
Both stalwarts will be accompanied by local NZbased
artists. Tikekar’s concert is hosted by the
Migrant Heritage Charitable Trust Inc (MigHTi) and
the New Zealand Kannada Koota is hosting the
Jayateerth Mevundi concert.
Both concerts are supported by the Centre
for Indian Performing Arts (CIPA) and the Mohan
Nadkarni Foundation.
Where: Chinmaya Nikunj, 63, McKenzie Road,
MangereWhen: Arati Akalikar Tikekar - Friday, March
17, 7 pm; Jayateerth Mevundi - Saturday, March
18, 6 pm.Tickets: www.eventfinda.co.nz (March 17
event); www.trybooking.co.nz (March 18 event)
8 organised by Christchurch
Marathi Group - Apli Manse team
led by Abhay Vengurlekar with
support from Suruchi, Sudhir
Joshi, Dhaval, Amol, Komal, Rahul
and Padmakar Shevde.
It is truly momentous
and historic that,
after receiving the
Sangeet Natak Akademi
Award, you have come
to NZ and performed
for the first time on
the high commission
premises." – High
Commissioner Neeta
Bhushan
Talking about her childhood,
Tikekar said, “I was fortunate
to have parents who were
passionate about music and
always encouraged me to pursue
my dreams. My mother would sit
with me during my riyaz (musical
practice) encouraging me to
keep going.”
The highlight of the evening
was a surprise for Tikekar when
the organisers connected her
husband live on video from
India, providing the audience an
opportunity to enjoy the light
banter between the couple.