Hundreds of hours of practice all came down to an exceptional 30 minutes on stage for the team representing Tauranga Moana at the world’s biggest kapa haka competition this week.

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui thrilled the audience at Te Matatini in New Plymouth on Wednesday morning with their performance.

“It was an awesome performance by Ngāti Ranginui,” Tauranga supporter Andrew Savage said. “They wowed.”

Savage said the Tauranga Moana team “really brought it”.

“They are always excellent but this year the quality of sound and their performance was so outstanding. It was a very polished performance.”

The performance by Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui at 8.30am on Wednesday was the first of 14 groups on day two of the preliminary competition, with each group on stage for half an hour. The groups now have to wait until Friday evening before learning if they’ve been selected for the finals on Saturday.

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui perform at the competition in Taranaki. Photo / Te Matatini Enterprises

Tauranga’s Tommy Wilson has family involved in the local team.

“I’ve been to the Brooklyn Bowl before, I’ve seen some amazing groups, I’ve come from One Love, but the sound and the aura and the vibe here was next level,” Wilson said.

“Something special happened when Ngāti Ranginui came on stage. It was more than magical, it was more than euphoric, it was next level, It was beautiful.

“Well done all those who have invested in Matatini, it’s a wonderful thing. In these crisis times when there’s so much bad news, here’s the good news. So beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.”

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui had 30 minutes on stage to impress judges. Photo / Te Matatini Enterprises

The Te Matatini biennial festival is the largest celebration of traditional Māori performing arts excellence in the world. It encapsulates the power and beauty of kapa haka at the most elite level as groups from New Zealand and Australia compete for the title of national champion.

Judges’ scores and comments are entered into an automated system, which identifies the three teams from each pool with the highest marks to go through to the finals.

Judging then starts over again to find Te Toa Whakaihuwaka – the best kapa haka overall in seven compulsory disciplines: whakaeke (entrance), mōteatea (traditional chant), waiata ā-ringa (action song), poi (song with poi), haka, whakawātea (exit) and te kairangi o te reo (excellence in Māori language).

Trophies are also awarded to the winners of each discipline, and for the best choral, male and female leader, costume, and original compositions.

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui delivered an "awesome performance" at Te Matatini in New Plymouth. Photo / Te Matatini Enterprises. 

The competition began in 1972, originally as the New Zealand Polynesian Festival involving 17 groups performing in front of 5000 spectators.

Before Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui took to the stage at Te Matatini o te kāhui maunga, a post the day before on their Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ranginui Iwi Facebook page gave readers an overview of the history of the Tauranga group’s path to performing:

"Let us take you on a journey…tonight we give you a snapshot of the evolution of the Kapa, a condensed version…

"Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui stands as the third pillar of the dreams and aspirations our ancestors envisioned to realize the whakatauki: “I te ngaro, i te ngaro Ranginui, Ka kitea, ka kitea, ka kitea.” During a time when our iwi was erased from history due to our defiance and unwillingness to surrender following the land wars, our forebears built Whare Tipuna. These structures were meant to embed our presence and create libraries of knowledge for our young people, helping them understand their identity and origins.

"The second pillar was the creation of the waka, Tākitimu, a vessel to unify the hapū of Ngāti Ranginui, which has now become a beacon of unity across Tauranga Moana. The Kapa Haka has become the third pillar."

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui was established in the early 1990s by Rihi Ngatoko to provide an opportunity for the Rangatahi of the time to reconnect with their identity through haka. The kapa was intended to be a repository of knowledge and a vehicle for the Rangatahi to further enhance their cultural understanding.

The close whakapapa connections with Ngāti Kahungunu allowed the kapa to attend the Takitimu festival, as it was known then. Additionally, the kapa regularly featured at both the Hauraki festival and the Koroneihana, maintaining a deep bond with Waikato and the iwi of the Kiingitanga.

After qualifying in the Takitimu region for the Aotearoa Māori Performing Arts Festival (now known as Te Matatini) in 1997, an unfortunate series of events led to the region’s disqualification from the competition. It wasn’t until 2007 that the kapa was reformed and entered the Ngāti Kahungunu rohe whakataetae, coming second and qualifying for Te Matatini, which was held in Tauranga in 2009. Narrowly missing out on qualifications in 2011, the kapa has attended every regional competition and Te Matatini in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023, and will appear for the seventh time at Te Matatini o Te Kahui Maunga this Wednesday.

As the late Dr. Morehu Ngātoko Rahipere described it, “the kapa is more than just a group; it is a legacy".  Indeed, it is a legacy, as many of the original members now have children performing, many of whom will take the stage this year.

The kākahu also holds significant meaning to the story of the iwi. The colours represent the whakatauki: black for “i te ngaro”. white for “ka kitea", and red symbolizing Pukehinahina, Te Ranga, and Te Weranga. It is designed with the esteemed ancestor Ranginui in the center and the confederated hapū surrounding.

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui, the legacy continues: ka kitea, ka kitea, ka kitea.

"Our Kapa take the stage on Wednesday at 8.30am representing Ngāti Kahungunu rohe alongside Te Rerenga Kōtuku, Te Rangiura o Wairarapa and Te Kapa Haka o Kahungunu.  Tihei Tākitimu, Tihei Kahungunu, Tihei Ranginui e!"  -Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ranginui Iwi Facebook page.

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui were up early on day two of the contest but must wait until Friday to learn if they have made the finals. Photo / Te Matatini Enterprises

From Tuesday, February 25, to Saturday, March 1, 55 groups will perform on stage at Pukekura / Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth to an audience of approximately 70,000, and an expected 2.5 million viewers on TV or online.

Te Matatini manahautū Carl Ross announced today that all tickets for Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga 2025 finals day are sold out.

“The Bowl of Brooklands holds 15,000 and we are at capacity. It’s an amazing feeling to know that we have achieved a sold-out finals day.”

Three kapa haka rōpū from each of the four pools will qualify to compete on finals day on Saturday, March 1. They will be announced at 5.20pm on Friday, February 28, once all 55 teams have performed.

You can watch the full 30-minute performance by Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui below.