Zoe Hunter: We're lucky we could celebrate Waitangi weekend the way we did

Thousands of people attended this year's One Love festival in Tauranga. Photo / Andrew Warner

Twenty thousand people each day, an expected $20 million boost to the local economy, and a worldwide audience of more than 100,000.

Those are the quick-fire stats of this year's One Love Festival.

This year's event was so good it had organiser Pato Alvarez calling it the "best one yet".

I don't disagree and the Bay of Plenty is certainly thankful for the millions of dollars expected to be pumped into the region because of it.

There was plenty going on this Waitangi weekend and it was great to see the Bay buzzing once again as we continue to live life after lockdown.

We're so lucky to be living in a country, and a region, where we can host events.
Let's face it, they are probably the biggest income generators for the local businesses with borders shut and a lack of international visitors.

One Love's Alvarez knows this, which is why he chose to share the aroha worldwide, with the event being livestreamed to hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.

While I chose to spend the long weekend visiting Queenstown for the first time, it was good to hear so many people spent the long weekend enjoying the local sights and sounds in Tauranga and Rotorua.

Many woke early across the region on February 6 to commemorate Waitangi Day at the Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Dawn Service.

But those who opted for a sleep-in could still join in the commemorations and acknowledge our shared identity at the Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Festival.

In Rotorua, a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures came together to mark 181 years since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Thousands attended For the Love of the People at Ōhinemutu village to also celebrate the diversity of the city.

We should be thankful we were able to commemorate Waitangi Day out of lockdown.

Otherwise, we may have been remembering the day at the end of our driveways in our own houses like we did Anzac Day last year.

And One Love could have quite possibly been a virtual concert for us all. There would have been no visitors, no multi-million-dollar economic boost - just a livestream to the world.

This long weekend was a chance to celebrate who we are and how far we've come.

Let's keep on celebrating and raise a glass to our beautiful Aotearoa, so we can continue to host events and commemorate our history together.