Te Matatini National Festival

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Competition Format

Toi Haka and Taonga

Past Venues and Festival Winners

Competition Format

The National Kapa Haka Competition is generally held over three to four days, and is held in accordance with the Competition Rules.

The first day involves a powhiri by the ‘tangata whenua’ where all kapa haka performers, supporters, dignitaries and visitors are welcomed to the host region and the National Festival.  The powhiri is carried out according to the customs and protocols of the host people. 

The Competition Preliminaries are held during Days 1, 2 and 3, with groups performing across a range of Toi Haka - compulsory and non compulsory performance disciplines.

Each performance is judged against set criteria, by judges appointed from around New Zealand who are expert in their respective disciplines. Those teams with the highest combined marks in their competition pool move on to compete in the Competition Finals.  The finalists are judged afresh on the compulsory disciplines to determine the new Toa Whakaihuwaka: overall aggregate winner.

The Competition Finals are always held on the last day of the Festival, which is concluded with prize giving, where taonga (trophies) are awarded across a variety of toi haka (performance disciplines).

Toi Haka (Performance Disciplines) and Taonga (Trophies)