Big waka to feature at Kawerau Waitangi Day event

The Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau will hold a Waitangi Day celebration on Saturday. Photo / File

Kawerau will celebrate Waitangi Day this weekend with an event hosted by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa now in its third year.

The celebration will be held on Saturday at the Circus Paddock in Plunket St between 10am and 2pm.

There will be local band and vendors selling food and coffee, and the wananga will bring a big waka tangata (large canoe).

Jacqueline McRae-Tarei, kaiwhakahaere ako (manager educational delivery) for the wananga, said the waka was a "cultural symbol of the partnership of the Treaty of Waitangi and the promise of a better future for the people of Aotearoa."

She said it would be the third year the wananga had put on the event, with the help of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and the Kawerau District Council.

"Their support is fantastic. Hundreds have attended previously and we're expecting another good turnout his year," McRae-Tarei said.

"We're hoping for another great day of music, sunshine and whanaungatanga."