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The weather had played its part, after a rocky start, for the CubaDupa festival.
Festival director Gerry Paul was “absolutely flustered” when a two-year-long CubaDupa kicked off under sunny skies in downtown Wellington on Saturday.
With the annual festival canceled last year due to Covid-19, Saturday marked the culmination of two years of planning, and thousands of people turned out to enjoy it on a warm and quiet Wellington afternoon.
“It’s a really proud moment,” Paul said.
“We have been planning this for two years thanks to Covid.”
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More than 100,000 people are expected at the CubaDupa festival for two days.
Festival organizers had to cancel more than 1,700 artists across 50 planned stages after last year’s event was canceled, making this year’s festival even more special.
The event began with a whakatau at noon at Te Aro Park, which has been in the headlines recently due to the increase in violence and social disorder.
National roster deputy Nicola Willis and others even said they didn’t feel safe walking around the area.
Paul said it was great to be able to bring mana into the “contentious” area.
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Saturday’s CubaDupa festival marked the culmination of two years of planning.
“Wellington may get a bit of a bad press, but when you see the vibrancy on the street today, the amount of people smiling and joining in … you don’t get anything like this anywhere else in the world.”
Paul said the whakatau was the highlight of the first afternoon’s events, as well as seeing an eclectic mix of music including a Colombian band, heavy metal in nearby Valhalla, a Latin dance stage, kapa haka groups, and orchestras. .
The weather had played its part, after a shaky start.
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Crowds soak up the atmosphere of the 2021 CubaDupa festival.
“It is a cookie. I woke up this morning and there was a great shower, but I had a feeling it was going to happen, and it did. “
Police said no incidents had been reported as of 3 p.m., although people could be heard talking to police to report an incident in which a distraught man threw a road cone at a car, smashing the windshield, in the nearby Vivian St.
CubaDupa continues Sunday in a totally pedestrian precinct of Cuba from 11 am to 6 pm, with after parties until the night.
