Every two years kapa haka groups from around the country come together in the world's largest Māori performing arts competition. This year the festival celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Ōtautahi Christchurch played host to the festival in 2015 in Hagley Park. This year it's at Auckland's Ngā Ana Wai - Eden Park.
It's difficult to overestimate the importance of Te Matatini on the Māori cultural calendar. This is the ONE. All the teams competing must first be successful at a regional level. Te Matatini is only for the best of the best.
TVNZ will be covering Te Matatini this year, it's available online at TVNZ+, and we'll be screening it live in Waruwarutū, Tuakiri | Identity, Level 2, Tūranga during library opening hours, Wednesday 22 to Saturday 25 February.
And we're super excited because two of our staff from Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi Christchurch City Libraries, Justice and Kris, will be competing with local group Te Ahikaaroa (tune in at 10.30am Friday 24 February for their bracket). Other groups from Te Waipounamu performing this year are Te Poutūmāro (5.20pm, Thursday 23 Feb) and Ngā Manu a Tāne (1.10pm, Friday 24 Feb).
Want to know more?
To enhance and enrich your viewing experience for the 2023 Te Matatini - Kapa Haka Competition look through some of the many resources that we house within our Ngā Pounamu Māori Collection. We have a wide range of resources listed below, there is something for everyone in the whanau.
- The Spinoff has a great primer, A beginner’s guide to Te Matatini 2023, which goes into how the performances are structured and explains the six compulsory disciplines that each bracket must include.
- Our page about kapa haka
- Our post about when Te Matatini was in Hagley Park in 2015
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