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RNZ News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Tāmaki Makaurau to celebrate te ao Māori with kapa haka showcase
This year's Tāmaki Hakangāhau includes 30-minute kapa haka meet-and-greet sessions - a first for the event - giving haka fans a chance to connect directly with performers backstage. Photo: Supplied / Te Matatini / Tāmaki Hakangāhau Haka fans will come together this weekend to celebrate te ao Māori through haka, waiata and whanaungatanga at Tāmaki Hakangāhau - a non-competitive kapa haka event designed to bring audiences closer to the action. The kaupapa will take place on Saturday at Auckland's Spark Arena, and feature 10 haka rōpū from the region - ranging from veteran performers to tamariki. It also includes a Māori business hub, and a mass waiata singalong to close the night. One of the event organisers, Moko Templeton, said it aimed to turn spectators into participants, with a focus on connection and community. "This isn't just about watching haka," she said. "It's about feeling the whenua shake beneath you, letting tears flow as waiata fills your heart, and leaving with your wairua cup overflowing. "Whether you're on stage, backstage or in the crowd, you're part of the whānau." Tāmaki Hakangāhau is a non-competitive Kapa Haka event, showcasing rōpū from across the Auckand region. Photo: Supplied / Te Matatini / Tāmaki Hakangāhau The kaupapa comes just in time for Matariki celebrations, which Templeton said was a time to reflect, reset and reconnect. "Tāmaki Hakangāhau is our way of wrapping our arms around the entire community." This year's event included 30-minute kapa haka meet-and-greet sessions - a first for the event - giving haka fans a chance to connect directly with performers backstage. Jeff Ruha, kaiako (tutor) of Te Poho o Hinekahukura, said haka had the power to uplift peopel going through tough times. "Every performer stands as medicine for whānau going through hardships," he said. "The world of haka is sustenance - it feeds souls and heals hearts." Organisers say the event is about connection, healing and uplifting the community through haka and waiata. Photo: Supplied / Te Matatini / Tāmaki Hakangāhau At the end of the event, more than 100 kaihaka will lead a mass performance of 'Waerea', the karakia made famous by Ngā Tūmanako at Te Matatini in 2019. Attendees were encouraged to bring their poi and join in the singalong. Alongside the performances, the arena will also host a kaupapa Māori market with kai, taonga, kākahu and fundraising stalls supporting local whānau, kura and Māori-led initiatives. The event was supported by Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Spark Arena, Te Matatini, and mana whenua Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. Tāmaki Hakangāhau takes place June 7 at Aucklands Spark Arena. Photo: Supplied / Tāmaki Hakangāhau
RNZ News
03-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- RNZ News
Matariki takes to the water for 2025 festival
Celebrations at last year's festival. Photo: Supplied / Auckland Council Auckland's Matariki Festival will invite visitors to paddle waka and experience kapa haka, as the city celebrates the Māori lunar new year. The festival will run from 7 June to 13 July and decorate central Auckland with murals, sculptures and neon lights. The month-long celebration will also host dozens of free events across the city. "The theme for this year's festival is all based around the water... You're going to see an array of events across Tāmaki that will have that theme based around the water," Auckland Council Māori culture and identity programme lead Melz Huata-Lucas said. "We will be having events across the city where family can get involved and really feel the essence of Matariki, but the thing is it's going to be a little bit cold around that time so I'd suggest everyone to rug up nice and warm but definitely get out to as many free events as possible." Auckland's Matariki Festival in 2024 . Photo: Supplied / Auckland Council The first tent-pole event would be an exhibition hosted by iwi partner Ngaati Tamaoho at the Sir Edmund Hillary Library and Papakura Museum on 14 June. "On the 14th there'll be an exhibition held showcasing Ngaati Tamaoho who is our iwi partner, they have weavers and carvers and artists that will be showcasing a lot of their work that they have been working towards for this year's team," Huata-Lucas said. "But also for our hapori, for our community, to get to know who the iwi are and their stories." Auckland's Matariki Festival in 2024 . Photo: Supplied / Auckland Council The next day, Aucklanders and visitors would be invited to try paddling a double hull waka. "With the theme of water, we have an intimate event with Ngaati Tamaoho showcasing the waka hourua... They will have that experience of jumping on the waka, learning how to paddle and navigate via the stars," she said. "I'll be looking forward to getting along to that experience myself, that will definitely be a highlight for anyone participating." The main event on the Friday 20 June, the Matariki public holiday, would be a day-long festival at the Auckland Botanic Gardens in Manurewa with activities like kapa haka, kite making and carving demonstrations. "We have free entertainment, we've got kai there, and from my recollection from last year the feedback we had was the community loved it. We're hoping the weather will be on our side so the community can get involved," Huata-Lucas said. Huata-Lucas said that just scratched the surface, estimating the 2025 programme would include about a hundred events throughout the city including workshops, exhibitions and more. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Councillor adamant Nelson well-placed to host Te Matatini
Nelson has been planning for four years already for the 2027 event. Photo: suplied/Te Matatini Enterprises Nelson council staff and hospitality leaders say they remain confident the region had capacity to host the world's largest kapa haka festival, after it was dropped as the 2027 host . Te Matatini Society Incorporated, which runs the biennial haka tournament, has said the next festival will not be held in Nelson as planned, amid concerns over the region's ability to accommodate the rapidly growing event. Expressions of interest are now open for other regions wanting to host the event. Nelson Māori ward councillor Kahu PakiPaki said the news was disappointing and came after many years work. "It's not good enough to say that Te Tauihu can't host, because how we host is really up to us," he said. "The event has really grown bigger than itself, and it's grown bigger than the regions, which is really disappointing, because the central government money that came to support this event a few years ago was really to be able to support the regions." Nelson Māori ward councillor Kahu PakiPaki Photo: Supplied The government committed $48.7 million in funding to Te Matatini over three years in Budget 2024. The investment was said to be intended to enable Te Matatini to embed its regional development model and to expand from a biennial, national festival to support kapa haka in the regions. PakiPaki said the region had plenty of time to prepare for the 2027 event and it had learnt lessons from hosting the primary school kapa haka nationals, Te Mana Kuratahi, in 2023 and the national secondary schools kapa haka festival, Te Huinga Whetū - Ngā Kapa Haka o Ngā Kura Tuarua o Aotearoa in 2024. PakiPaki travelled to Taranaki for this year's event and said the region, which was similar in size and population to Nelson, did a fantastic job of hosting. It was estimated 70,000 people attended Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga in Ngāmotu, New Plymouth, with 15,000 people attending the finals day. "I went to Taranaki and I saw what they did there and it gave me great confidence leaving New Plymouth, knowing that the scale of their city and their region was more than a match to be able to host a very successful Te Matatini," PakiPaki said. "By not having it here in Te Tauihu, that's a clear message to the rest of the country that Te Matatini is no longer part of the regions, it's only really for the main centres to be able to host." Hospitality NZ Nelson branch president Alexander Siebentritt also said the decision not to hold the event in Nelson was hugely disappointing, and he believed there was adequate accommodation to host those attending an event of its size. He said the fact Te Matatini was to be held in March likely contributed to concerns over infrastructure. "If you host a large event in the middle of high season in the summertime, I think you will find that most regions in New Zealand would struggle with accommodation availability." Nelson City Council acting chief executive Alec Louverdis said a governance group was set up with council staff and members of the Cultural Council earlier this year, to prepare for Te Matatini in 2027, after several years work behind the scenes. The council allocated $300,000 in its Long Term Plan to support the delivery of Te Matatini in 2027. To date, around $7000 had been spent sending staff to Te Matatini in Taranaki to get a feel for the event and around $5000 working with the Nelson Regional Development Agency on accommodation. The decision not to hold the event in Nelson was disappointing, but the council understood the reasons for it and respected the decision. "We think we put our best foot forward and we would have been able to make this work. "We knew the task that was awaiting us, we felt that we could deliver this." Louverdis said Nelson had coped with large events before, like when it hosted three Rugby World Cup matches in 2011, the Bay Dreams music festival and the two recent kapa haka national competitions. Around 35,000 people attended the national secondary schools' kapa haka festival, Ngā Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua o Aotearoa in Nelson last June, and Louverdis said they were expecting at least 50,000 people at Te Matatini. He said finding accommodation and training facilities had been the biggest challenges. "We felt that accommodation-wise, flights, traffic, transportation, training facilities, we had put a lot of thought into all aspects and we felt that we could have delivered and were ready." There were regulations that had prevented kapa haka groups from staying at schools in the region during previous events, but the council's regulatory staff had been working to address those issues. Louverdis remained positive that Nelson could host the event in the future. "If they want to bring it to the regions, we know we've done this work, we know that we can be successful, and we know that we could do it." Sonny Alesana, who is chairperson of Te Tauihu o te Waka a Maui Māori Cultural Council. Photo: RNZ/ Samantha Gee Te Tauihu o Te Waka-a-Māui Māori Cultural Council chairperson Sonny Alesana said it was a disappointing decision for the region because of the amount of work that has gone into the last four years. "We feel like we were ready but once again understand that the decision by Te Matatini is based around the exponential growth of Te Matatini over the last four or five years." Alesana said Te Matatini was about ensuring there was a platform for all iwi and all regions to tell their stories on the stage. "Te Matatini from Te Tauihu's point of view is owned by rohe. Te Matatini I guess it's the waka that all rohe stand on and row together and therefore it's really important for Te Matatini to look at formats that continues to allow all rohe, all 12 rohe, 13 including Ahitereiria (Australia) to ensure that we have that voice." Te Matatini does not exist without the 13 regions, he said, so it should look at the format so the smaller regions like Te Tauihu got their opportunity to host. "We feel that yes, there is still an opportunity for us to host," Alesana said. Te Matatini Society Incorporated tiamana (chair) Tā Herewini Parata said the board's decision was not a reflection on Te Tauihu, but a result of the festival's rapid growth and concerns over smaller regions' ability to accommodate burgeoning numbers of kaihaka and supporters. Since the festival schedule was set more than a decade ago, the event had experienced unprecedented growth and was now a significant event on the nation's calendar. "While this decision may be disappointing for many, we have had to be realistic and seriously re-evaluate the risks of holding Te Matatini in its current format in smaller regions." The organisation had completed a comprehensive evaluation and while Te Tauihu had worked hard to find solutions to deliver the festival at its current size, concerns remained, particularly around accommodation, transport and freight capabilities. The locations for future Te Matatini festivals; 2027: TBC 2029: Tainui (Waikato) 2031: Te Tai Tokerau (Northland) 2033: Rangitāne (Manawatū / Wairarapa) 2035: Mātaatua (Bay of Plenty) 2037: Te Tairāwhiti (Gisborne / East Coast) 2039: Te Arawa (Rotorua) 2041: Waitaha (Christchurch / Southern)
RNZ News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
‘Forgotten their roots': Te Matatini risks alienating regions
Te Tauihu kapa haka team Te Kuru Marutea secured the People's Choice award in Taranaki in 2025, but won't be able to perform at home in 2027. Photo: Supplied/Te Matatini Te Matatini risks alienating the regions with its decision not to host the 2027 event in Te Tauhihu, Whakatū Nelson's Māori Ward councillor has warned. It was announced on Monday that the next national kapa haka competition will not be hosted in the Top of the South , as had been planned since 2013. Society heamana (chair) Tā Herewini Parata said the decision was not a reflection on Te Tauihu (the Top of the South Island). "As the festival continues to grow in size and significance, the planning and delivery of Te Matatini must reflect that scale," he said. "While this decision is heartbreaking for many, we have had to be realistic and seriously re-evaluate the risks of holding Te Matatini in its current format in our smaller regions." The festival had seen "unprecedented growth" and despite Te Tauihu working hard to find solutions, Parata said concerns remained, particularly around accommodation and transport - about 70,000 people attended the 2025 event in Taranaki. Te Matatini was now inviting expressions of interest for hosting the 2027 event. Nelson's Māori Ward councillor said the news was "outrageously disappointing". "We had quite a few options on the table that we've got plenty of time to be able to deliver on those, but… they're not interested in trying to keep Te Matatini connected to the regions," Kahu Paki Paki said. Nelson Whakatū Māori Ward councillor Kahu Paki Paki says the decision to pull out of Te Tauihu risks alienating other regions around the motu. Photo: Andrew Board/Nelson Weekly "They run the risk, a very serious risk, of isolating some of the regions that won't even get a chance to host." He acknowledged that there were some "challenges" in hosting Ngā Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua, the national secondary schools' kapa haka festival, in 2024 but they had provided "good learning lessons" for local organisers and ultimately the event was a "great success". Kapa haka was community-focused and community-building, and so the prospect of iwi and hapū around the motu missing out on hosting Te Matatini in favour of the main centres was "really sad", Paki Paki said. "If Taranaki could do it, and they did it really well, there's no reason why we couldn't have done it just as well… they have forgotten their roots, they've walked away from the regions. It's a real shame." Parata was not able to respond in time for publication, but on Tuesday morning he told Waatea News that he acknowledged that the decision was "disappointing" for Te Tauihu. "There's over a million people in New Zealand that have got an opinion on Te Matatini - and their opinions are all right - however it's the board's decision to make," he said. But he added that there was still "a lot of goodwill" for the regions. "Maybe, I can't say outright, we need to look at the whole festival and ways of hosting Te Matatini in the smaller rohe." That could include potentially reducing the number of kapa haka groups that participate down from the current 55 so areas like Te Tauihu could host the festival in the "near future". Nelson and Tasman's mayors are also disappointed in the decision, but understood the capacity concerns from Te Matatini. Tasman Mayor Tim King said even though the two youth kapa haka events Te Tauihu previously hosted were "very successful", there were still challenges with many people travelling daily between Nelson and Marlborough. Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said the benefits of hosting Te Matatini outweighed the costs for the council, and that the organisation had supported hosting the event locally "at every step". Both hoped Te Tauihu would be able to host the event in the future and would be keen to see the return of the youth competitions again. "We… are keen for this uniquely New Zealand art to still be very welcome in the city and region," Smith said. Sonny Alesana, chair of the local Te Tauihu o Te Waka-a-Māui Māori Cultural Council. Photo: Supplied Sonny Alesana, heamana (chair) of the local Te Tauihu o Te Waka-a-Māui Māori Cultural Council, was hopeful the region could have the opportunity to host again sometime in the future. "We are disappointed, but we also understand the pressure Te Matatini is under, both in terms of its growth and the financial implications of that," he said. "We are committed to continuing to work with Te Matatini to ensure Te Tauihu does have its time in the sun and that smaller regions are not automatically disqualified from hosting." Alexander Siebentritt, president of Hospitality NZ's Nelson branch said hosting Te Matatini would have had "very positive effects" for the local economy - the 2023 event in Tāmaki Makarau Auckland generated more than $26 million. "We just simply have to carry on and focus on how we can find alternatives to fill these gaps." He said the region was "fantastic" and able to cater to large events. "This is a great opportunity for another great event to be hosted in our region, if there's anyone out there, I've just heard some dates in February 2027, became available." Concerns about the region's ability to host the event in 2027 were thrown into the spotlight in March when Te Mauri o Te Matatini was not passed from Taranaki representatives to Te Tauihu. Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
RNZ News
13-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Midday Report Essentials for Tuesday 13 May 2025
business recreation 37 minutes ago In today's episode, RNZ understands pornography found on the work computer of former deputy commissioner of police, Jevon McSkimming, is being investigated as alleged objectionable material, New Zealand exporters are breathing a small sigh of relief, after the US and China agreed to a temporary halt on the tariffs they had put on imports from each other's country, the community in Te Tauihu o te Waka-a-Maui/Nelson is feeling gutted by the decision by Te Matatini not to host the next kapa haka festival in the region, and Canterbury's Mt Hutt Ski field is planning to open its slopes two weeks early this year, if the weather holds.
