Media Advisory

24 June 2014

Rotorua’s Thursday Night Market celebrating Matariki this week

Rotorua’s popular Thursday Night Market is this week celebrating Matariki – the Maori New Year –and the inner city will be buzzing with activity.

1. There will be music and dancing, with long tables gracing the footpath so people can sit and enjoy the food on offer while taking in the entertainment.

Te Puia’s cultural team will open the street celebrations at 5.15pm with a pohiri and a brief oration about Matariki.

Rotorua Racco’s Japanese taiko drummers will perform at 6.30 pm followed by a lively Cook Islands dance group performance around 7.10pm.

The Fire and Ice Festival’s lantern making workshop team is also planning a lantern procession in the marketplace to celebrate Matariki, and to promote the Ignite Lantern Parade taking place at the Village Green on 26 July.

Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. It rises once a year in mid-winter. For many Maori it heralds the traditional start of a new year. Matariki literally means the 'eyes of god' or 'little eyes.'

The Rotorua Night Market takes place in Tutanekai Street’s ‘Heart of the City’ precinct from 5pm on Thursday.

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