Matariki – Herald of Māori New Year

Matariki – Herald of Māori New Year

Matariki is a free community festival on Friday 18 June at the A.W. Parson Stadium in Waipukurau.

The event revives the Maori tradition of marking the passage of time and celebrating the Maori harvest within a modern context.

Matariki (Pleiades) is a group of seven stars that appear on the eastern horizon in the pre-dawn sky from late May to June each year. This signals a time of thanksgiving, feasting, fun and festivity.
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The event this year is organised by Robert Ropiha with help from the Waipukurau Community Marae. They plan to involve people of all ages and cultures from around the district. It provides the opportunity to strengthen communal ties, share positive memories and experiences and lift the aspirations and attitudes of people.

In July 2001 Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc the iwi tribal authority endorsed a proposal to take Matariki celebration to each of it’s six regions in Wairoa, Napier, Hastings, Central Hawke’s Bay, Tararua and Wairarapa. Since then the iwi has wholeheartedly supported Kahungunu Matariki by providing core funding and services.

Marking Matariki, Maori New Year in a special way provides a positive model in response to some of the complex problems in our times and at the same time provides a peak experience in the social lives of Maori and the greater community with the purpose of helping us reclaim and enact past traditions within a modern context through the arts.

The celebrations start at 5.30pm and end with a fireworks display in Russell Park at 8pm

ENDS

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