The Gough Cat Franklin Multicultural Festival will be held on Saturday 30 March 2019 at Pukekohe Intermediate. 

The sport this year is Top School.  This will be followed by performances from local schools and groups ranging from Kindy through to adults.

Food for sale will include burgers, indian, pulled pork buns, sausage sizzle and cakes. Our famous vegetable stall will be on show too.

Last year we raised a profit of $14,000.  We could not have done this without our sponsors listed below:

 

Puni School would like to thank the following sponsors: Puni Workshop Ltd MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL 2018 8 Count Dance Studio ASB Bank A.S Wilcox Alan Wilson Plumbing Auckland Council Auckland Zoo Aurora Law Limited Autobahn Café Balle Bros Bazzas Steakhouse Blankspace Architectural Ltd Boneyard Butterfly Creek Callander Construction Campbell Tyson Limited Challenge Pukekohe Counties Fitness Crossfit Pukekohe Custom Threadz Desloe Produce Dianna Marie Think Flowers Diosa Hair Di Lewis Jewellery Draeinail Construction Ltd Farmhouse Preschool Farmlands Pukekohe Farmsource Firstflex Cables Flower & Gift Shoppe Franklin Pool and Leisure Franklin Vets Fulton Swim School Gallagher Group Glenn Jones Artist Halo Hair Salon Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Harcourts Pukekohe Harleh Laser Clinic Hellers Ltd Hira Bhana & Co Ltd Horticentre In-Depth Agronomy JUMP East Tamaki Kids After School Ltd Liddells Pharmacy Lightwire LJ Hooker Lonestar Pukekohe Mc Donalds Pukekohe McRobbie Bros Ltd Moloney Plasterers New Zealand Maritime Museum OD on Hair Pak'nSave Pukekohe Poco Loco Pukekohe Toyota Punchbowl Investments Ltd Puni Springs Pony Park Puni Workshop Ltd R C Hari Radius Concrete Pumping Riordan & West Ltd Russell Askew Contracting Ryco Pukekohe Sally Prodger Sanitarium Set Sue Ltd Shipherd Nurseries Sky City Auckland Slice of Elegance Spookers Stardome Observatory The Cheesecake Shop The Vet Centre The Village Bar & Kitchen The Warehouse Wai Shing Ltd Waiuku New World World Organics Wright's Jewellers Pukekohe Z Fit

Each year in late March/early April, Puni School organises the Franklin Cultural Festival to celebrate the varied ethnicities of Pukekohe and the surrounding areas.  This is our main fundraiser of the year.  The Festival is run in conjunction with the Counties Manukau Ethnic Council and sporting bodies of Franklin.

The day is celebrated at the Pukekohe Intermediate Grounds commencing with a sporting competition for 8-13 year olds.  Local schools enter teams, generally of 10-12 members to experience new or different sports that they may not encounter in the school yard.

2008 - Kabiddi (Indian bullrush game)
2009 - Ki-O-Rahi (Maori Rob the Nest)
2010 - Crazy Ball (NZ made game to strengthen throwing and catching skills)
2011 - Ultra Rip Rugby (devised by Jeremy Wara and Dameon C from Counties Manukau Rugby)
2012 - Tee-Ball (devised in USA in 1940's)
2013 - Futsal (Brazilian 5 a side soccer)

2014 - Ki-O-Rahi

2015 - Touch Rugby

2016 - Turbo Touch

2017 - Turbo Touch

2018 - Soccer

2019 - Top School

The day generally commences at 11am with a welcome, karakia and warm up for the 300+ competitors.  Instructions and organisation for the day is given out by the main stage and the teams wearing sponsored t-shirts from local businesses then spend the next 2 1/2 hours engaged in inter-school competitions.

The Puni School PTA/Community provide amusements such as face painting, children's stalls, raffles, bouncy castles, merry-go-rounds, water walkers etc and a huge variety of ethnic foods for sale such as butter chicken, hangi, spicy lamb burgers, sausages in bread, cold drinks, ice-blocks, coffee/tea etc.  The stalls open up at the intermediate school around 10am and run through to the end of the festival.

At 1.30pm a prize-giving is held for the sports competition at the main stage and our Master of Ceremonies welcomes the crowds and the Cultural performers who entertain in the afternoon's.

Performances begin at 2pm with Puni School Kapa Haka group being the first to perform, with the whole school closing the event at 5pm.  Each group has 10 minutes to perform and we receive entries from indian dancers, bangla dancers, martial arts devotees, polynesian groups, school kapa haka teams, cheer leaders, hip hop dances, scottish pipers, chinese dragon dancers, school choirs etc. 

The Festival concludes around 5.30pm each year.  The Festival has become an annual feature on the Franklin Calendar over the past 11 years.