Rocking it at the Taula Home Fest

By Vatapuia Maiava 02 June 2016, 12:00AM

A cold cup of Taula beer, a variety of different foods, bouncy castles to keep the kids occupied and a talented live band.

For those who made their way down to the Taula Home Fest 2016 yesterday held at Home Café found the perfect way to celebrate Samoa’s 54th Independence.

But this isn’t the first time the beverage company has taken the initiative to make independence an enjoyable one.

“So this is actually the second time we’ve done an event like this,” Taula’s General Manager, Enele Westerlund told Samoa Observer.

“The first time we did this was on the same day last year which was the Manutagi Home Fest and now this year it is the Taula Home Fest.

“The idea was to try and get people to get out of the house on a holiday; we know that people usually go to the marches and then they have nothing left to do afterwards.”

Taula also aimed at giving some of our local bands some much needed stage time and to expose them to public entertainment.

“So when a few people approached us we thought that we should give it a try,” Mr. Westerlund said.

“We also saw the potential of also lifting up our local musicians and bands so that they could get used to this sort of event if they want to pursue their career in music.

“It is also a fun day for parents to bring their kids; we have a bouncy castle this year as well as the kid’s activities where they will be supervised by our staff.

“This will take the load off of the parents so they can enjoy a drink and the great music.

“The tickets that they buy for $15 comes with a free coupon for a free beer or a taxi; those who pay at the door had to pay $20 and it still includes the coupon; as soon as they come in they can go straight to the bar.

“We also have food stalls on the side, this year we have BBQ’s, Hot Dogs, Snow Cones, Island Food, Waffles and desserts and a separate area for water and taxi soft drinks so the parents won’t have to go to the bar to get drinks for their kids.

“For entertainment we have seven different bands with six of them being local and one from New Zealand.

“And of course back to the bouncy castle, we got four just to give the kids enough space to jump around and play without getting hurt and to let the parents relax and not worry.”

Taula also offered a huge special on their beer for half an hour to give guests the opportunity to let loose even more.

“For today we put one dollar beer from 2 – 2:30pm,” Mr. Westerlund said.

“We did the same thing last year as a marketing ploy just to let people know that there is something going on because was relatively new and we had a short amount of time to promote it so we did it as an incentive for people to come in and enjoy.”

The idea of a Home Fest this year was actually meant to be scaled down but due to more and more people hopping on board, the event became even bigger than the last.

“This was a joint idea between Home Café, Billy Peters and me,” Mr. Westerlund said.

“They approached us to have just a single band playing for independence night; but as soon as we started planning, people heard about it and asked if they could participate so it went from a single band to a sic band day event with activities.

“I want to thank the sponsors who helped make today possible without any hiccups.”

“Bluebird Lumber and Hardware, FM Radio, Tisaan Printing and of course Taula Beverages for spearheading an event like this and making it possible for everyone to enjoy independence.”

By Vatapuia Maiava 02 June 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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