Te Kura o Hato Hohepa Te Kamura students perform at the 24th year of their kura hosting the annual Whangaroa Arts Festival.
Te Kura o Hato Hohepa Te Kamura students perform at the 24th year of their kura hosting the annual Whangaroa Arts Festival.
A tiny albeit mighty Whangaroa kura marked an epic milestone when it celebrated more than two decades of hosting one of Te Hiku’s longest-running, free community performing arts festivals.
Hundreds of people turned out for Te Kura o Hato Hohepa Te Kamura’s annual Whangaroa Arts Festival on November 22, holding its 24th year on a brilliant, sunny day.
The popular festival showcased a range of local kura (school) kapa haka performances, kai, and arts and craft stalls, with all 15 of Hato Hōhepa’s ākonga (students) and kaiako (teachers) opening the event with a mihi whakatau (welcome) and ending with a poroporoaki (traditional closing ceremony).
Totara North School kapa haka rōpū on stage performing their routine.
Principal Mereana Anderson said the festival was an event that showcased and celebrated young people throughout Whangaroa and the districts.
She said it also provided an opportunity for the community to come together under the banner of kotahitanga and whanaungatanga.
“It is and has been an honour to lead this event and to continue a legacy well established by the time I came along, and I am blessed with an amazing community, kaiako, kaimahi and whānau,” Anderson said.
“I believe we are only as good as the community we serve and here, we have a saying: ‘We may be small, but we are mighty!’ So everything we do is driven by a commitment to service.”
The festival started in 2000 and has grown to become an annual event much loved by the community.
According to Anderson, it would be fair to say many of the performances would be worthy of a regional kapa haka competition stage.
Over the years, the event has evolved to feature ākonga-run food stalls and other stands, giving them the chance to develop their entrepreneurial skills.
Anderson said she acknowledged how her ākonga now eagerly embraced every opportunity to run a stall.
The mihi whakatau held by Te Kura o Hato Hohepa Te Kamura, welcoming manuhiri to their kura and the festival. Photo / Myjanne Jensen
“My ākonga have clear goals and actively seize every chance to fundraise and sell their products.”
This year also marked the largest collective of schools to participate at the festival, including Te Kura o Hato Hohepa Te Kamura, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Whangaroa, Matauri Bay School, Totara North School, Oruaiti School, Kaeo Primary School, and Mangonui School.
Anderson said the festival was the kura’s biggest fundraiser and helped pay for learning resources, trips and stationery to ease the financial burdens of education.
This year, to support the costs for the new weatherproof stage, the kura also held its inaugural Gala Day the following day.
Anderson said given the festival was an outdoor event, they would traditionally create a space for a stage on the field; however, after being rained out three times in the past nine years, they saw the need to weatherproof the event.
“We believe our kids deserve a stage to perform on, so the gala event helped us to cover the costs of the stage, audio system, lighting, marquee and portaloos and so on,” she said.
