The Te Tai Tokerau Cultural Festival may not be a competition. But it is natural for groups to want to put their best foot forward.
The annual festival, a celebration of kapa haka and Maori culture, will see 29 schools from around Northland descend on Bream Bay College next month.
Rosemary Nathan, deputy principal of Bream Bay College, said kapa haka roopu have spent many hours, including time after school and in the weekends, practising for the festival.
"There are the schools which eat and breath kapa haka and those schools which are trying to grow it as a cultural practice," she said.
Ms Nathan said the festival, which is hosted by different Northland schools each year, usually draws a crowd of 3000 to 5000 during the two days. Each school will perform twice.
"It's the only kapa haka festival in Northland. It is the Te Tai Tokerau secondary school version of Te Matatini," she said.
Bream Bay College last hosted the festival in 2007. Ms Nathan said Northland College was due to host it this year, but major renovations at the school meant it had to pass it on.
"It's a good opportunity to host the competition, despite the massive amount of work. You work with the community and that's been awesome," she said.
Ms Nathan said as hosts this year the school has decided to use more technology. This means ambassadors will be able to show people where to go using a tablet, rather than a hard copy map.
Schools attending the festival have also been able to order lunches online, which had not been done before, Ms Nathan said.
The festival will run from April 11 to April 12.