What's planned for Whanganui's Waitangi Day celebrations

Grace Penn will sing and play guitar at Waitangi celebrations. Photo / supplied

Preparations are well under way for Whanganui's public Waitangi Day celebrations, which include a line-up of local entertainment talent.

Picnic at Pā takes place at Pākaitore/Moutoa Gardens from 11am to 3pm and is organised by Whakawhanake, a group of five young people.

Everybody is welcome to attend.

Kupe Renata, who has just released his debut solo album, and was a member of New Zealand's Got Talent semifinalist group The Black Trio, plays first.

He's followed by Grace Penn's acoustic music and the young Hulabeats dance crew.

Next come two members of the trio that won the 2018 E Tū Whānau Song Competition. They are Jay Rerekura and Charlie Williams, who wrote the winning song, Troubled.

Whanganui City College's Aotea Empire, a multiple winner of interschool competitions, performs next, and after them is saxophonist and singer Daniel Waho.

While all this is going on there will be food stalls, games and activities for children, and information stalls.

Rerekura, who is the chairman of the Pākaitore Historic Reserve Board, will give walking tours of the reserve at noon and 2pm. Te Oranganui Iwi Health Authority will explain the way Māori use the phases of the moon to explain and guide their activity in the Maramataka Tent.

But the day really begins at 7am, with karakia by the Whanganui River that flows alongside the gardens, followed by a session of Aka, a Māori movement discipline, led by Justin Gush.

Organising group Whakawhanake Ltd is Kiri Wilson, Daniel Solomon, Tamahaia Skinner, Rongomaitawhiri Ah Ching and Hawea Meihana. It will be the fifth Waitangi celebration they have put together.

This year they have $10,000 funding from Whanganui District Council. They plan to make the day bigger and better in future years, Wilson said.