With just over a month until Auckland’s annual celebration of its rich Māori culture, some new items are on the festival menu.
The Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival offers something for all the senses when it returns for its third edition in late January 2018.
The festival showcases the unique Māori history, heritage and contemporary culture of Tāmaki Makaurau, linked to 19 iwi across the region.
The free, family-friendly three-day festival includes a huge range of activities including an extensive programme of kapa haka and contemporary Māori music, delicious kai (food) and a variety of authentic arts and crafts, and waka parades, rides and carving demonstrations.
New in 2018 are art and fashion displays, talks and workshops; commentary for daily waka parades, detailing waka history and culture; and a showcase of apps and digital games which help people learn basic Māori language and culture.
For the first time, there will be an audio-described tour for blind and low vision visitors the festival. It will take place on Sunday 28 January from 10am - 12 noon, with the option to stay for the daily waka parade that has its own commentary.
The tour will be led by a trained audio describer who will provide visitors with a description of the visual elements of the festival using a tour guide microphone and receiver system. Participants are welcome to bring friends or family as guides.
Advance bookings, by 14 January, are essential as spaces are strictly limited. To book or for more information contact Nicola Owen from Audio Described Aotearoa, [email protected], 021-035-8513.
Festival goers can tempt their taste buds with a kawakawa sorbet created by gelato makers Lalele Organic; modern Māori fusion cuisine from the Puha & Pakeha food truck, and classic favourites like mussel fritters, whitebait fritters, smoked tuna and eel, seafood chowder, steamed mussel pots, half-shell oysters (weather permitting), hot hāngi with pork or chicken, fried bread, boil-up, ice-cream in pineapple and watermelon, and kina shots, from a range of other stalls.
Sight: Auckland Art Gallery is returning to the festival in 2018, bringing artist Charlotte Graham (Ngāti Māhuta, Ngai Tai) to exhibit and run workshops at the festival; while Auckland Council’s Activate Auckland team is bringing a programme of traditional and contemporary Māori art and fashion, artist talks, workshops and storytelling to Level 2 of the ANZ Viaduct Event Centre.
Sound: The main stage festival programme includes Majic Paora, Bella Kalolo, Facebook sensation Maimoa, X Factor NZ’s Maaka Fiso, Riqi Harawira, Kaaterama Pou, E Tu Whanau, Taisha and some of the best performers in the kapa haka world.
Taste: Try kawakawa sorbet, hot hangi, smoked eel, kina shots or boil-up.
Touch: Sign-up for one of the popular rongoā Māori hands-on traditional healing sessions.
Smell: Wander along the marketplace stalls and smell the hangi and fritters cooking, or sign-up for a workshop about traditional healing tonics and the use of native plants.