The top three from each group will be named on Friday night and will advance to the final on Saturday.
Around 70,000 people are expected to attend Te Matatini at the Pukekura Park/Bowl of Brooklands venue.
Another 1.8 million will tune in through livestreams or television on TVNZ 2, TVNZ+, Whakaata Māori and Māori+.
Fifty-five groups earned a spot this year – the most to compete at a single festival and 10 more than the 2023 edition of the biennial event.
An extra day of competition was added to accommodate the increase. The groups come from Te Matatini’s 13 regions – 12 in New Zealand and one in Australia – and must have earned qualification at one of the regional competitions held the year before Matatini.
Each performance consists of distinct elements that showcase a group’s skill, storytelling and cultural depth, and each team of 24 to 40 performers have 25 minutes to deliver what is known as a “bracket”, comprising six compulsory disciplines and one optional.
The compulsory items are whakaeke (entrance); mōteatea (traditional chant); waiata-ā-ringa (action song); poi; haka; and whakawātea (exit).
The optional item is the waiata tira or choral. Points are awarded across all disciplines, with teams judged on te reo Māori excellence, execution and impact.
A single point – or even half a point – can determine a winner. The winning team earn the supreme title of Toa Whakaihuwaka and with it the Ngāpo Pimia Wehi Duncan McIntyre Trophy, national prestige and international performance opportunities.
Te Matatini began in 1972 as the Polynesian Festival and has gone through many name changes over the years as it grew rapidly, to the point where Anipātene Biddle from Rotorua’s Te Arawa regional winners Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue last week told NZME it was “the kapa haka Olympics”.
Waihirere won the inaugural event and went on to be crowned champions four more times.
Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti have won it twice.
Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi Te Whānau-ā-Apanui are the reigning champs.
