Groups performing at Te Matatini 2023. Photo / Kiriana Eparaima-Hautapu / Te Matatini 2023
Groups performing at Te Matatini 2023. Photo / Kiriana Eparaima-Hautapu / Te Matatini 2023
Dozens of performers will take the stage this weekend as part of a free celebration of Tauranga Moana kapa haka groups who represented the city on the highest stage of the prestigious competition Te Matatini held earlier this year.
About 40 performers will be part of Hawaiki Herenga Haka at Mount Maunganui’s Trustpower Arena Baypark tomorrow.
Originally planned to be hosted at Memorial Park, the event has now been moved to the Trustpower Arena Baypark due to the unfavourable weather forecast.
Groups performing at Te Matatini 2023. Photo / Kiriana Eparaima-Hautapu / Te Matatini 2023
Tūtarakauika ki Rangataua from the Mātaatua region and Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui from the Ngāti Kahungunu region will be performing alongside Ngā Taipakeke o Tauranga Moana.
The event will also include a primary school national kapa haka event, Te Mana Kuratahi.
Kapa haka groups Te Pūwhāriki from Maungatapu, Te Whānau o Te Maro from Tauranga Intermediate, Te Kapahaka o Matapihi from Matapihi, and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Otepou, who qualified at their regional heats to represent Tauranga, will also perform this weekend.
Organised by the Tauranga City Council, the free whānau-friendly event will also include kai (food) trucks, Māori craft stalls, poi making, clay pipe, and raranga (weaving) bracelet workshops.
Tauranga City Council’s strategic Māori engagement manager Carlo Ellis said the event was all about recognising and celebrating the efforts of the city’s senior kapa (teams) “who have represented Tauranga as a whole at the highest stage of Te Matatini”.
Te Matatini is a biennial kapa haka festival that was hosted at Eden Park in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) in February this year.
“To support an event like this that both thanks those kapa and also makes their performances available to be enjoyed here at home is a real privilege and we hope it sets a precedent for how we celebrate as a community,” Ellis said.
“Adding the junior kapa haka teams is just another way to share the love and celebrate those that represent Tauranga on a national stage.”
Groups performing at Te Matatini 2023. Photo / Kiriana Eparaima-Hautapu / Te Matatini 2023
Hawaiki Herenga Haka event schedule:
11am: Karakia - Whakatau and Welcome
11.10am: Ngā Taipakeke o Tauranga Moana
11.50am: Te Pūwhāriki - Maungatapu
12.15pm: Te Whānau o Te Maro - Tauranga Intermediate
