Rotorua's first citizenship ceremony since lockdown held at council

Rotorua Primary School's kapa haka performance. Photo / Supplied

There was a special atmosphere and afternoon of story-telling at Rotorua Lakes Council on Tuesday as the first citizenship ceremony since the Covid-19 lockdown was held.

Since February 18 last year, citizenship certificates were posted to new citizens, but ceremonies have commenced once again.

Twenty-six people became new Kiwis on Tuesday, from countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Fiji, El Salvador, India, South Africa, the United States and England.

Rotorua Primary School pupils gave a kapa haka performance as part of the ceremony, and Rotorua Intermediate also performed a haka when fellow student, Avish Chand, became a citizen.

Ayush, Aklesh, Avish and Harjeet Chand becoming New Zealand citizens at the ceremony, with deputy mayor Dave Donaldson (left). Photo / Supplied

Deputy mayor Dave Donaldson officiated in the mayor's absence.

He says it felt great to have the first citizenship ceremony since level 4 lockdown early last year.

This was the first ceremony since lockdown because of uncertainty around Covid-19 alert levels, changes to government and new Cabinet appointments.

The citizenship ceremonies feature videos from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Governor-General.

"It was good to be back, being able to celebrate the achievement of New Zealand citizenship with those receiving them, rather than just having certificates posted out."

Donaldson says he enjoys the celebration with new citizens and learning about their journeys into the Rotorua community.

"It's getting that sense of understanding and providing the manaakitanga Rotorua is renowned for."

He says some of the new citizens have been in Rotorua for a significant amount of time, whereas others are recent arrivals.

"The common message is how friendly they found the community here and how welcoming it's been.

"It's nice to share these journeys that they have been on before arriving to settle with their families here, and what's really encouraging is how much they love the environment we can take for granted here in Rotorua."

Donaldson says it was also delightful to see a slightly different spread of countries people had come from at this ceremony.

"It was really interesting and the feedback I got was that, as well as becoming citizens, people enjoyed meeting each other and sharing their stories."