The Hawke’s Bay-hosted te reo Māori cousin of the Welsh Eisteddfod Festival is gearing up for sellout crowds next month with fewer than 500 tickets remaining for across symposium events.
More than 5000 people are expected to attend free and ticketed events at Toitū Te Reo on August 8 and 9 around Hastings and at the Toitoi Arts and Events Centre.
Organisers said the aim is to promote te reo Māori’s status as an official language and unite all New Zealanders in recognising and honouring it.
Symposiums and events cater to novice speakers, those fluent in te reo Māori and the general public.
Free fun on offer includes the wānanga space Matapaki, a rangatahi poetry slam, a free street concert, food stalls, an information expo, retail stalls, an art trail and a kōhanga reo space.
Festival director Jeremy Tātere MacLeod said there was a “buzz and excitement” that was spreading across the motu from marae to academic circles, schools and businesses who saw the professional development opportunities for their teams.
“Leaders and learners are walking together,” he said.
One of the many Māori small businesses operating at the festival’s Hastings Street Expo Marquee will be moko artist Joni Brooking (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Tuwharetoa).
Brooking and her husband Te Rangikoianake Clarke (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Te Rangikoianake, Ngāti Tuwharetoa) will offer Pounamu Ihorei products and sell Moko Ihorei-labelled winter clothes and merchandise for adults and tamariki.
The pair were drawn in by the festival’s kaupapa and the chance to connect and collaborate with other Māori businesses.
“I wanted to partake in something positive within the community,” Brooking said.
“I also have whakapapa connections and used to live down there in Hawke’s Bay.”
Another major drawcard for the pair was the festival and symposium’s large-scale nature, which had national and worldwide appeal.
“It’s the first of its kind. Around the nation, many iwi and tribes are holding their own symposiums, but this one is open to the world, so there will be quite an array of prolific and proficient reo speakers,” Brooking said.
She said she believed the event enhanced the work done through other iwi and tribal symposiums over the past 10-20 years.
“It’s going to create more opportunities and spaces and forums. We were in Hamilton the other day at a festival there, and seeing the number of stalls with small Māori businesses was amazing.
“Māori business is thriving through our own culture, creativity, and flair.”
McLeod said the festival has had widespread support from those across the Māori language spectrum.
This included partners at Hastings District Council and Ngāti Kahungunu, fluent reo Māori speakers and those just starting their reo journey, and the wider community.
“We’ve been particularly grateful to Te Matau a Māui’s business community who have got in behind this important kaupapa with sponsorship or buying tickets for the professional development of their teams,” he said.
“It demonstrates just how keen businesses are to build their cultural capability, encouraging their teams to learn te reo and tikanga, and that they recognise how important te ao Māori is to many of their people.”
Tickets for the Toitū Te Reo symposium are currently on sale via Eventfinda.
Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in January 2023. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
- NZ Herald