Kerre Woodham: Marae's Matariki magic

Peter Gordon was in charge of the hangi. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Happy Matariki for last Sunday.

Matariki is the Maori New Year - a time when traditionally, Maori put away supplies for winter and held feasts to mark the onset of leaner times.

It's also the Maori name for the group of stars otherwise known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. And Matariki has now become synonymous with a music and food spectacular.

This is the second year running that Ngaruawahia's Turangawaewae Marae has hosted a gourmet hangi and music spectacular to mark Maori New Year and I hope it becomes a feature in our calendar.

I travelled to Turangawaewae last Sunday - along with 600 other guests - and I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the food and the entertainment.

To be honest, I haven't been a big fan of hangi (the food I've tried in the past has tasted like smoked any beast) but with ex-pat chef Peter Gordon in charge, we were in safe hands.

Stuffed pork belly cooked in banana leaves, stuffed boned rolled legs of lamb, spicy marinated chicken - it was soooo good. For four hours, we feasted, drank and made merry with the likes of the Topp Twins, Don McGlashan, Hollie Smith, Anika Moa, Anna Coddington and a host of other talented artists.

I'm so glad I made it to Turangawaewae: too often, I intend to go to concerts and plays and exhibitions and when the dates roll round, the Irishman and I look at one another and, with unspoken complicity, collapse on to the couch, phone for takeaways and end up watching a DVD.

When you're busy, it's very easy to cop out of making extra effort. Matariki was well worth the drive and the price of the ticket. It'll be no contest between the couch and the concert next year.