Ngāti Ranginui’s kapa haka team have set off for Taranaki, hoping to make their whānau and all iwi of Tauranga Moana proud on the world’s biggest kapa haka stage this week.

They are the only Tauranga Moana rōpū [group] selected to perform at Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga 2025.

The biennial kapa haka festival will be held from Tuesday to Saturday in New Plymouth at the Bowl of Brooklands in Pukekura Park. An audience of about 70,000 is expected on site, with 2.5 million viewers on TV or online.

Six Rotorua rōpū are also among the 55 teams and 2000 performers competing for the title of toa wakaihuwaka [overall winner] and the Ngāpo Pimia Wehi Duncan McIntyre Trophy, as well as the opportunity to represent New Zealand at international kapa haka events for the next two years.

The festival showcases Māori performing arts and regional competitions are held by kapa haka groups across New Zealand on alternate years and include rōpū [groups] from Australia.

Te Arawa rohe teams competing will be Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Te Hekenga-ā-rangi, Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao, Te Hikuwai and Te Pikikōtuku o Ngāti Rongomai.

Ngāti Whakaue, which came second at Te Matatini 2023, placed first of 24 teams at last year’s Te Arawa regionals.

Te Whānau a Apanui, from Eastern Bay of Plenty, won the championship title at Te Matatini in 2023 and will get the chance to defend their title this year after winning the Mataatua rohe regionals.

Tauranga’s Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui qualified in the Ngāti Kahungunu rohe and were scheduled to perform on Wednesday morning.

‘Making our whānau proud’

Sunlive was at Huria Marae on Sunday as Ngāti Ranginui’s team of 40 performers, six reserves and 20 supporters and tutors gathered to leave for New Plymouth.

Tutor Kuka Tuakaokao said they were “very excited” to be heading off.

“We’ll be going down there to represent Tauranga Moana – Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Pūkenga – as well as carrying with us all our loved ones that have passed away in the last year and also making our connections with the people of Taranaki.”

Kuka Tukaokao, one of the tutors for Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Numia Tangitu, leader and co-tutor, said they were looking forward to the trip.

“It’s been a long campaign and we are just looking forward to getting it over and done with, but also hopefully making our whānau proud back home.”

Numia Tangitu, the leader and one of the tutors of Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

Kura Martin-Tukaokao is the chairwoman of Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui and a Te Matatini life member.

A former kaihaka [performer], she told the Bay of Plenty Times her last time on a Te Matatini stage was in 2019 and she now works on the administration side of her kapa haka group. The last Te Matitini she performed at was in 2019, at the Wellington festival.

Martin-Tukaokao said standing with her whānau at Te Matatini allowed them to express their identity.

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui performers meeting at Huria Marae on Sunday morning before leaving for New Plymouth ahead of Te Matatini. Photo/ Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Sharing that with her whānau and rōpū was beautiful and important, she told the Bay of Plenty Times.

“It’s our identity. That’s really what it is and the platform was provided to be able to portray that the best that we can.

“It’s actually a privilege first and foremost because you’re going to get selected from your own region – you don’t just turn up and you get in.”

Martin-Tukaokao said being the only Tauranga Moana team selected came with honour and some pressure.

People from other cultures could also relate to Te Matatini, she said.

“Because when they stand to present their shows or their dance or their customs and their ways, it’s an honour and a pride to uphold.”

Kura Martin-Tukaokao, 59, chairwoman of Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui, at Huria Marae in Tauranga. Photo / Aleyna Martinez

Martin-Tukaokao said her purpose for Te Matatini was “being able to share our whakapapa and history”.

“Most kapa haka, you actually relate to each other, so you come from either the same marae, the same iwi or the same hapū and have a connection through whakapapa.”

She was proud to have performed “with my actual tamariki [children], my partner and nieces and nephews”.

“When you’re so passionate about this kaupapa, and especially with Ngāti Ranginui, you become whānau rather than an individual or part of a group.”

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui performers meeting at Huria Marae on Sunday morning before leaving for New Plymouth for Te Matatini. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Martin-Tukaokao said song composition was included in the judging process and many waiata were composed specifically for Te Matatini competitions.

The songs told stories of an iwi’s whakapapa, identity and history.

“Ours is maintained and includes stories of our iwi, our hapū, our people, our kawa and our tikanga.

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui perform in 2023. Photo / Alex Cairns

“And, especially our waka, Tākitimu, that represents our lineage, our existence."

Judges awarded points for disciplines including poi, haka, waiata tira, waiata or song composition, choreography, waiata-ā-ringa or action song, te reo, haka, and kākahu or dress.

‘Highly competitive’

Te Matatini life member, Te Arawa rohe chairman and Rotorua councillor Trevor Maxwell said the festival was a showcase of “Māori excellence”.

“It’s highly competitive and we love one another, except for those 30 minutes on stage when it becomes your rōpū and the rest,” he said.

Councillor Trevor Maxwell MNZM of Ngāti Rangiwewehi says he's amped for Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga 2025. Photo / Andrew Warner

“You give it your best for those 30 minutes.”

Maxwell said the first Te Matatini festival, held in Rotorua in 1972, was then called the New Zealand Polynesian Festival. In 2004, it was renamed Te Matatini, which means “many faces” and reflected the diversity of the competitors and their audience.

He hoped to see more non-Māori join Māori to “come and enjoy the performing arts that we passionately love”.

Maxwell welcomed a feature on the Te Matatini app that could give live translations in five different languages: Samoan, Cook Island, Mandarin, Tongan and English.

Anipātene Biddle, 24, would perform with Rotorua’s Te Arawa regional winners Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue.

“It was our first time winning the regionals actually, so it was a special moment for us.”

Anipātene Biddle, a kaihaka [performer] from Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue, was excited to perform with her cousins and friends at Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga 2025.

Te Matatini was a major event on the te ao Māori calendar, Biddle said.

“I was getting my nails done the other day, and the lady was asking me, why are there so many people coming in to get their nails all of a sudden?

“And I said, well, you know it’s the kapa haka Olympics next week.”

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue are one of six rōpū from Te Arawa to take the stage at Te Matatini o Te Kahui Maunga 2025.

Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga 2025

What: Biennial national festival of kapa haka

When: Preliminary competition, Tuesday February 25 to Friday February 28. National championship, Saturday March 1. 

Where: New Plymouth

How to watch: TVNZ 2 and Whakaata Māori or online through TVNZ+ or Māori+

Performance schedules are available on the Te Matatini website.