West Melbourne and Beyond

Ma'opo'opo Mai

Altona Homestead

The Pacific Connections Ma'opo'opo Mai Expo celebrated it’s fifth year in 2023! The expo is a celebration of Pasifika culture and welcomes all people to experience the warmth and hospitality of the many cultures that make up the Pacific.

Ma'opo'opo Mai Fijian performer — *Image: West Melbourne and Beyond. Fijian performer.*

Ma'opo'opo Mai is a FREE community event and is a jam-packed day of amazing selection of food, workshops, performances, captivating music, Pasifika-owned businesses showcasing their crafts and products, and much more for the whole family to enjoy.

Ma'opo'opo Mai Maui's Snack Bar — *Image: West Melbourne and Beyond. Food stall.*

Ma'opo'opo Mai is held at Seaworks and this is such a great venue as there is plenty of space available for all the stall holders to setup, a stage for live cultural performances and a great outdoor area with more food stalls, live DJ, plenty of seating for people and views of Hobson Bay.

Ma'opo'opo Mai at Seaworks — *Image: West Melbourne and Beyond. Seaworks.*

Ma'opo'opo Mai creates a hugely positive vibe and as the hours pass the crowd gets louder and more involved. It's great for newbies to experience Pacific culture and see how the audience really get into the spirit of things and happily get up and dance and just enjoy themselves.

Ma'opo'opo Mai crowd — *Image: West Melbourne and Beyond. The crowd joins the performance.*

Community Engagement

A great thing about the Ma'opo'opo Mai Expo is that it is both a celebration and a party but also an event seeking greater community participation and involvement. It was very encouraging to see a schedule of community engagement workshops involving Victoria Police, Dept. of Justice, Helping Hands, TALA Netball Clinic and SIL Australia.

Kids Corner

Another great thing about the Ma'opo'opo Mai Expo was the provision of a Kids Corner. This is such a fantastic idea to have a dedicated kids area to play and for the children to make new friends. An obvious positive is also to give the adults a bit of me time to enjoy yourself without having to manage your child. Kudos to the organisers.

What we noticed is that the Ma'opo'opo Mai Expo is definitely a lot quieter earlier in the day. This means that if you want a more leisurely experience you should come as early as possible. However to enjoy the celebratory atmosphere and positive vibes we definitely recommend coming from 12PM or later. The crowd is louder and more involved as the day goes on and that's a great thing!

Location

Ma'opo'opo Mai is held at Seaworks located at 82 Nelson Pl, Williamstown VIC 3016, Melbourne.

Ma'opo'opo Mai stall — *Image: West Melbourne and Beyond. Stall*

Tickets

Entry is FREE!

In A Nutshell

The Ma'opo'opo Mai Expo is a celebration of Pacific culture for everyone. A great venue, positive vibes, fantastic cultural performances, lots of stalls and foodtrucks, music and a spirit of community, the Ma'opo'opo Mai Expo is easy to recommend. Lets hope this expo continues for many more years into the future.