Last week’s 4-day heatwave resulted in the cancellation of the Moomba Parade 2024 – an annual event that our program SPIRIT OF PASEFIKA centres on. Although we were disappointed that our performance did not reach Moomba crowds this year, the City of Melbourne‘s decision to cancel the parade was for our safety and well-being.

Today we want to take this time to thank our Pasefika communities of Victoria for joining us in our preparations this year. It was a wonderful 3 months of rehearsal, welcoming new families to our PICAA family, and catching up with our regulars. Many of our Spirit of Pasefika participants were new to the performing arts scene so the chance to introduce them to the work that we do as Pasefika creatives was a bonus.

A big thank you also goes out to our PICAA creatives, Lelili’o Steve Tafea, Christian Gilbert, Fulisia Asalemo Tofete, Lavinia Enosa and Malagama’ali’i Gina Tafea for sharing their creative skills to the Spirit of Pasefika program, leading rehearsals and engaging with our community throughout the months of Moomba prep. Thank you also to the Sydenham Neighbourhood House of Brimbank City Council for the continued partnership, ensuring that our community gathers in a safe space every week.

SPIRIT OF PASEFIKA will be back in 2025 and yes we will again be ready with the songs, chants and dances that we all know and love. Our program will commence at the end of the year with a call-out to community to join us, via our social media pages so make sure you’re following us!

Vinaka to everyone for your support from our Spirit of Pasefika team here at PICAA.