Tauranga to celebrate Waitangi Day at beach and village

Consultant and historian Buddy Mikaere is looking forward to this year's Waitangi Day, which will have a festival like no other at two Tauranga locations. Photo / George Novak

Tauranga can expect a Waitangi Day festival like no other as plans for a two-venue event are confirmed.

The Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Festival 2019 will be held at both at Mount Maunganui beach and Tauranga's Historic Village on February 6.

The festival has been organised by the He Iwi Kotahi collective, led by consultant and historian Buddy Mikaere, who had been involved in previous community Waitangi Day festivities at Pāpāmoa.

Development plans by the landowner prevented future Waitangi events to be held there but the seed for something bigger had already taken hold in Mikaere's mind.

"I thought 'well, this could actually be bigger than that, why don't we look at having two festivals?'"

The Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Festival 2019 will tag on to the end of the Tauranga City and Western Bay District councils dawn service at Mount Drury (Hopukiore).

It will involve live music, food trucks, stalls, activities and workshops for all families to enjoy.

Mikaere said the newly finished building which houses The Kollective on 17th Ave also hosted a large stage area which led on to the Historic Village.

"It's a perfect event space for having another festival. We've got our two sites. We've got a really good reception from partners like Creative Bay of Plenty and we have had a great response from local musicians."

So far the music line-up includes the Māori Volcanics, Left Hand Break, Regan Perry and Whirimako Black. Both venues have live music lined up to play from 10am to 6pm.

The event was created by a coming together of different community groups and businesses including The Incubator, Metro Marketing, and The Kollective.

Mikaere said the naming of He Iwi Kotahi came from the moment William Hobson signed the Treaty of Waitangi, saying: "We are now one people".

"We wanted to do something positive with that phrase," Mikaere said.

Feedback from people and businesses about the festival had since been huge, he said.

The Incubator will be offering free community workshops, of raranga (flax weaving), poi making, ta moko and Māori instruments demonstrations, and a te reo cafe where people could learn more about the Māori language, phrases and pronunciation.

Waitangi-themed art exhibitions will also be on offer.

Metro Marketing's Whitney Wineti said the group came together to create the event in an effort to focus on the things that bring New Zealand's cultures together "rather than focusing on the difference between us".

"Overall ... this is a family event created by 'locals' for locals. It's a day not just for Māori but for all other nationalities that make up Tauranga Moana to come along and celebrate in unity by immersing themselves in art, music and culture."

The event is free but people are asked to bring a donation to go towards fundraising for Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui members for Te Matatini 2019.

The groups regularly represent New Zealand as part of an Italian International Folk Festival.

Their performances honour fallen Māori Battalion soldiers who lost their lives in World War II.

Waitangi Day in Tauranga Moana

What: Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Festival 2019
Where: Mount Maunganui beach, at Mount Drury (Hopukiore), and Tauranga's Historic Village on 17th Ave
When: From 10am, February 6
Who: He Iwi Kotahi - a collective of groups including Creative Bay of Plenty, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, The Incubator, The Kollective, Metro Marketing and The Historic Village.
What's on offer: Food, live entertainment, art, free workshops, family fun
Cost: Koha (donation) for Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui in Te Matatini 2019