A festival in full swing straight out of the blocks

The whirring purerehua and the emotive calls of the karanga at times created an awe-filled hush among attendees, eyes glued to the main stage and screens.

It was a poignant day for the performers of Te Kapa Haka o Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti, from Whakatane and the East Coast, who performed without their leader Ricky Lee Mitai, who recently died.

“We’re feeling a lot of big emotions,” performer Tauariki Hete-Wairau said.

The performance focused in on loss and pain within the tightly-knit roopu, and finished with a haka from the sidelines displaying love to the group’s whanau.

The haka in response focused on people not listening to their doctor.

“Take your medication, go to the hospital, get checked out.

“These are our consequences, you can see them up there,” Hete-Wairau said, pointing to the stage.

Other spectators were there to proudly support performing whanau, with three family members hailing from Ngati Kahu in the Far North, gathering to watch their niece, nephew and great-grand nephew perform.

Enjoying a picnic in the sun, sisters Patina McAllistar and Georgina Popata were staying locally with their cousin Suzie Clark, who was proudly showing off her district.

“It’s really nice because not many people know about New Plymouth, it’s usually our hidden secret,” Clark said.

“So this is amazing for New Plymouth, though it’s scary because more people will know about this place now.”

She joked that driving on New Plymouth’s one-way systems appeared to be causing confusion for visitors, who were going slow, unsure of which way to turn.

“We need a bit of patience, but it’s no dramas. And New Plymouth’s really turned it on for this event.”

Some spectators hailed from as far as Canada, with the hosts of visiting early childhood educators Chata Gahdele and Samantha Riley taking their guests for a cultural education at Te Matatini o te Kahui Maunga.

In a whirlwind week of seeing first-hand a bi-cultural approach to early childhood education, packed with marae visits up and down the country, the two Canadian teachers were enjoying reclining on the grass as they took in the kapa haka.

“I love the culture, it’s so rich. I don’t understand much of what they’re saying, but it’s beautiful, and the scenery is beautiful,” early childhood Chata Gahdele said.

She felt a lot of similarities between Māori culture and her Native American Denesuline tribe, she said.

“I’ve never felt so welcomed as a family as we’ve been treated here, it’s been so friendly, it’s powerful. Words can’t describe it, it’s felt genuine. And now we have to say goodbye.”

Their host, Maru Love Te Hira, said it was an honour and privilege to be able to show off his culture so strongly to the visitors.

“If nothing else, I hope it’s inspiring. If you look 25 years into the future in Canada, the hope is they’ll arrive somewhere like this. Because we’re very far ahead, actually.

“The difficulty is they have so many different tribes, so many people, so much land mass between them,” Te Hira said.

“Not like here, eh cuz? We’re all contained within a 20km town, or whatever. It’s easy for us to stay connected.”

One grandmother and her mokopuna had travelled from Whanganui to see the children’s parents performing in Te Kura Nui o Paerangi.

“It’s very amazing. We’re very proud to have the opportunity to tell our story about Whanganui and introducing everyone to our region is really special,” Mere Whanarere said.

Her granddaughters Tai-Aaria, 6, and Hineaio, 5, were excited to see mum Brooke Whanarere and dad Te Rangihotu Pe Whairangi on the stage.

There were performers who hailed closer to home, though Hāwera boy Te Teria Wiremu was performing with Te Poho o Hineka Hukura kapahaka in Manurewa, Auckland.

He was staying in Opunake, and was feeling a mix of nerves and confidence about his roopu’s upcoming performance on Thursday.

“It’s massive, eh? It’s a huge milestone.”

Up in the kaumatua tent, volunteers from Hawera and the Kapiti Coast were keeping elders sheltered and hydrated with cups of tea and screens that they could get up close to.

The elders were “cute and sweet”, regaling volunteers with their pearls of wisdom and ranking their favourite Te Matatini festivals from over the years.

“I just wanted to give back,” Maranga Cooper said of volunteering. “I whakapapa back to Te Atiawa but I’m not familiar with it, and I was coming to the festival anyway.

“To immerse and treat ourselves to the kaupapa and wairua, where it’s okay to be Maori, well it’s always okay to be Maori. It’s okay to be you.”

Jeremy Nickel agreed, “where you can be old or young, or whatever colour”.

He said was proud to volunteer at what’s been nicknamed the “kapa haka Olympics”, and for such an elite event.

“To say I was kai mahi at the world’s biggest kapahaka festival.”