Puaka Matariki Festival 2013

Connected Communities

Dunedin (Tuesday, 11 June) – Dunedin’s fifth annual Puaka Matariki Festival has begun, with a series of dynamic community and arts events that celebrates the rise of the Puaka star and Matariki star cluster heralding the Māori New Year.

The Festival runs from Monday 10 June until Sunday 7 July.

The Festival has more than 40 events to educate, provoke, charm and stimulate people of all ages and interests. Many long-standing signature events are returning and some exciting new community events have also come forward to join the New Year celebrations.

Festival Co-ordinator Josh Thomas explains, “The strength of the Puaka Matariki Festival lies in the many individual Ōtepoti communities who hold their own events and connect particularly with their local whānau. These communities come together to learn and share with each other at a time of year increasingly important to many of us”.

This year, there are community events from Karitane, Warrington Okāhāu and Waitati in the north through to Concord, Brockville and Mosgiel in the south.

ENDS

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