Waitangi Day 2025: Waikato events to celebrate shared history and future

Building on Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery’s long-standing Waitangi Day programme, this year will feature a larger event.

In honour of Waitangi Day, Hamilton City Council has put together a special festival programme which carries the theme “weaving our future together”.

While the Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery and Hamilton Libraries have run Waitangi event programmes for the last decade, this is the first time the council has taken a city festival approach to Waitangi Day after many years of supporting other community events.

The new programme includes live music and kapa haka performances, puppet shows and crafts for kids, exhibition talks, food and free screenings of the movies Rewi’s Last Stand and Ka Whawhai Tonu.

There will also be gallery tours focused on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and guided riverside history tours to learn about pā sites. However, those are already booked out.

Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum director of museum and arts Liz Cotton said the museum and gallery were proudly bicultural.

“Waitangi Day provides another opportunity for important conversations about our shared history and the potential of Aotearoa New Zealand’s future,” she said.

“Our exhibition ‘He Aa I Uta, He Aa I Tai: Weaving the Elements’ celebrates the legacy of weaving through traditional and contemporary hand-crafted works by members of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa.

“It provides the aspiration and kaupapa of our Waitangi Day programme: ‘Weaving our future together’.”

The event will be opened by Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate and representatives of mana whenua at 10am at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery and will run until 3pm.

Southgate said she was “enthusiastic” about the new city Waitangi Day event.

“Waitangi Day offers a wonderful chance for the community to come together and celebrate our rich history and culture. I can’t think of a better place to host an event than our stunning Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery.

“There is plenty for all to enjoy. I am looking forward to it. Come and enjoy the entertainment and check out some wonderful exhibitions for people of all ages.”

A full schedule of activities can be found here tewharetaonga.nz/waitangi. All tours and movie screenings need to be pre-booked.

Meanwhile, there will also be a Waitangi event in Whitianga and Tūrangi.

The Whitianga event will run from 9.30am until 2pm at Buffalo Beach Reserve. There will be food, market stalls, live music, performances and kids entertainment.

The event in Tūrangi will take place from 10am until 5pm at Te Kapua Park.

There will be performances by Te Omeka Perkins (House of Shem), TJ & Huri, Daughters of Ally, Mahi Par, F.L.B., Beat Girls and Tūwharetoa Kapa Haka Roopu.