Kia ora Te Matatini! Festival to be held in Wellington in 2019

Wellington’s Deputy Mayor, Jill Day, has welcomed the announcement that the 2019 Te Matatini Kapa Haka Festival is to be held in Wellington.

The four-day event will be held at Westpac Stadium from 20-24 February 2019.

“I’m tremendously excited that Te Matatini is coming to Wellington,” says Cr Day.

“Te Matatini is expected to draw at least 60,000 kapa haka performers, whanau and supporters to Wellington – this is a major event by any estimation and it gets bigger every year.

“From personal experience as a performer and through supporting my children in kapa haka, I know the opportunities that come from participating in kapa haka.

“I’m also excited at the way the festival will highlight work the City Council and other organisations are doing to make Te Reo more visible in Wellington.

“We’re looking forward to working with Te Matatini and host iwi in the next few months to build a festival that attracts people to the region from all over New Zealand the world.”
Cr Day says Te Matatini doesn’t stop at the gates to Westpac Stadium. “The challenge is also for councils to wrap an experience around the main event and across the region in order to manaaki our manuhiri and present our cities and towns - Me heke ki Pōneke, Me heke ki Te Upoko o te Ika.”

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