‘Biggest Te Āhuareka ever’: Ngāti Hine Festival draws record crowd to Ōtiria Marae after four-year absence

Reporter·Northern Advocate·

3 Apr, 2023 09:32 PM2 mins to read

The tāne of Muriwhenua kapa haka group perform a haka. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Thousands of people packed the grounds of Ōtiria Marae, near Moerewa, to enjoy the return of one of Northland’s biggest cultural festivals after a four-year absence.

Te Āhuareka Ngāti Hine Festival is normally held every second year, but the Covid pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2021 event.

That meant Northlanders were extra-keen for a chance to come together and celebrate everything that made them unique, Saturday’s event manager Huhana Lyndon said.

Numbers “easily” topped 5000, despite rain thinning the crowd on Saturday afternoon.

Lyndon said it was “the biggest Te Āhuareka ever”, with the schools’ kapa haka day on Friday also setting records for the number of children and schools taking part.

“The whole place was just throbbing with kids,” she said.

“It just proves our people are ready to come together and enjoy whakawhānaungatanga [getting to know each other], whakangahau [entertainment] and wānanga [learning] on kaupapa that are special to us. It’s been a really long time since our last Ngāti Hine Festival, and we haven’t had a Ngāpuhi Festival for ages either.”

Lyndon said the event was deliberately held after Te Matatini, the national kapa haka competition, to give competing groups a chance to perform for their home crowd.

As well as showcasing the region’s best Māori performing arts, the three-day festival featured music, tautohetohe [debate] in Ngāti Hine’s unique dialect, whakapapa [genealogy] talks, ta moko [tattooing], free haircuts and information stands promoting the 2023 Census, conservation and maramataka [the Māori lunar calendar], among other causes.

A touch rugby tournament was also part of the festivities for the first time.

Kai played an important part, with fundraising stalls selling everything from the traditional, such as hāngī and raw fish salad, to the not-so-traditional, such as frutella (frybread with Nutella) and riwai huri huri [spin spud].

Sunday was a day of remembrance dedicated to the late Percy Tipene, an internationally renowned organic grower from Motatau.