Tauranga Moana will celebrate its kapa haka this weekend when the two groups representing the city at Te Matatini perform alongside some of the up-and-coming haka stars.
Hawaiki Herenga Haka at the Trustpower Arena will feature Tūtarakauika ki Rangataua and Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui, who represented Mataatua and Ngāti Kahungunu respectively at Te Matatini in February, while a number of primary school groups will also be showing off their talent ahead of the Mana Kuratahi national competitions later this year in Nelson.
Event manager Ayesha Kee says the idea to celebrate the city's kapa haka in this way starts a new tradition in Tauranga.
"I would love to see this every time whenever Te Matatini happens. It's also a reason to bring our whānau together. I also think that, with the broadcast of Te Matatini this year, it made it very accessible for our non-Maori as well. So this free community event, supported by Tauranga City Council, we really want for our non-Maori people to come and enjoy and experience it live, actually."
The festival will begin with Ngā Taipakeke o Tauranga Moana taking the stage, a group made up of kaumātua, which Kee is excited about, before the next generation of Te Matatini performers take the stage.
"We've got four of our kura groups that are fundraising to got to the primary schools' kapa haka nationals in Nelson - Maungatapu, Tauranga Intermediate, Matapihi, and Otepou."
Local identity Miss Kihi will MC the kaupapa, while Tūtarakauika kaihaka Aukaha Kakau-Dickson will provide a kōrero to the crowd about the compositions his rōpū performs.
"Some of the questions that we get from kapa haka are things like how do these songs come to be? How do the waiata come to be? So he's actually going to do a kōrero during the event and stuff about those compositions."
Kee is also excited to have another uri of Tauranga Moana, Tūmanako Farrell perform on stage. Farrell is an accomplished singer, notably in opera, and has travelled the world throughout his career but is now back home in Tauranga.
As well as kapa haka on stage, Kee says there will be many local kai vendors, artists, clothing designers and health providers onsite to keep whānau going throughout the day.
