We were at the Samoan Church Hall in Favona, Auckland where the Second Annual Kari Virunthu was held today.
Organised by the Tamil Association of New Zealand (TANZI) in partnership with Arasan NZ Trust, this Festival featured the diverse and delectable cuisines of Tamil Nadu. More than 1800 attended this event held from 11am to 4 pm. About 100 volunteers led by Sowndra Rajan Palanisamy, Dr Luxmanan Selvanesan, Kishore Kumar and Dr Mahesh Babu and others toiled to make this mega event a reality.
Forty dishes (20 each), prepared by volunteers at the site, were served under Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian sections.
A variety entertainment- with traditional and modern music and dance- was a part of the programme.
Among the dignitaries were Ethnic Communities Minister Melissa Lee MP (National), Customs and Seniors Minister Casey Costello (NZ First), MPs Jenny Salesa MP, Dr Deborah Russell, Shanan Halbert, Lemauga Sosene, Ingrid Leary (Labour), Dr Dr. Parmjeet Parmar (ACT), Greg Fleming, Cameron Brewer (National) and Sri Lanka MP Safiul Mohamed Muszhaaraff.
There were stalls put up by Kumuda Setty to promote her ‘Adukale’ products, and a few others.
