Matariki celebrations are taking place this weekend and Matariki Rotorua Inc committee chair Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea says this year's celebration is all about the children.
Matariki is the Maori name for the group of stars also known as the Pleiades star cluster or The Seven Sisters, but is commonly referred to as the Maori New Year, and Te Rangikaheke says he wanted to see more families getting involved in the festival.
"We have been running these Matariki events in Rotorua for about three years now and one of the things that we discussed, when we first set out on this, was to look at what sort of events we can run over a period of 10 days that everyone could get involved in, especially the tamariki [children]. We want to embrace everybody," he says.
"The opening of the old Scholes Gallery is also a central part of this, too. It has a lot of history, and is centred in Whaka. It has always been a part of the village and has had some of New Zealand's best artists' work displayed there. We are exciting to be opening it again with a new story. We thought that Matariki was the perfect time to bring it to life again."
Te Rangikaheke says he is delighted with all the help they have had from the community in putting this event together, and is looking forward to engaging with the people of Rotorua over the coming days.
