Matariki events continue to shine in Ōpōtiki
Ōpōtiki is halfway through its two-week calendar chock-full of fun Matariki events with something for everyone – star gazing and night walks, hakari, waka ama, workshops, movies, golf tournament and even a street party in the rain! There is still more to come with a final few days of activities and events through to this weekend.
Ōpōtiki District Council’s i-SITE Manager, Joseph Hayes, said that thousands of locals and visitors had attended one or more of the local Matariki celebrations over the two weeks.
“Each year our celebrations get bigger and brighter and more local organisations, individuals and businesses come on board to add their events or ideas.
“I’ll be honest – it is an exhausting and exhilarating time for the team – we have something on every day for two weeks sometimes at 5am and sometimes starting at 7pm! Such a lot of work goes into this, and we couldn’t do such a full calendar of events without all these groups joining us and taking ownership of their own events and activities under the Matariki banner.
“There have been so many highlights so far. We loved seeing the rangatahi hit the water for the waka ama day at the wharf and the movie premiere of Coco Reo Māori. The night walks at Hukutaia are always really educational and there have been a lot of local workshops and star-gazing as well.
“But we still have quite a few events to come with a twilight hakari, planting day, pub quiz and the big final event on Saturday when we officially open Te Papa Takaro o Whitikau with lots of music, markets, kai stalls, and even karaoke! Make the most of our local Matariki celebrations and come along,” Mr Hayes said.
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