Hawke's Bay poised for a fine Matariki holiday

Technicians work on the lighting for Marama Luminate Light Trail, Matariki Hunga Nui ki Te Whanganui-a-Orotu at Waitangi Regional Park, Awatoto, nightly this week. Photo / Warren Buckland

.

New Zealand marks Matariki with a public holiday for the first time with a forecast for fine and sunny weather.

Officially, the shortest day of the year was on Tuesday - June 21, as it is every year.

But weather pages throughout the country show there have been five shortest days this week, and five longest nights, the last of which is Friday.

It may sound a bit clouded, but when it comes down to fractions Tuesday was, indeed, the shortest day, at 9 hours 12-and-a-half minutes, and Tuesday night was the longest night of 2022, at 14 hours 37 minutes 53 seconds.

As it happens, the earliest sunset of the year was at 4:55.55pm on both June 13 and 14, but we're still five days from the latest and the latest sunrise, at 7:34.51am next Tuesday (June 29).

The day itself is chocker with events, both Matariki official and others that activities in which a nation might indulge on a mid-winter public holiday, which will, with such things as club rugby, have quite a Saturday feel, with the lead-in of Thursday actually feeling like a Friday.

Some of the events are episodes of events held daily during the week, thus on the calendar for Matariki Day 2022:

9am-Midday, Learning about Matariki, whānau event, 12-2pm, whānau entertainment, Atea a Rangi reserve and Whare Whetu Planetarium, Waitangi Regional Park.

9am-5pm, Matariki at the National Aquarium of New Zealand (11.30am, storytelling).

10am-2pm, Kite making, Havelock North and Flaxmere libraries.

10am-2pm, Kite making, Havelock North and Flaxmere libraries.

2pm-10pm, Matariki ahi ka, Home fires of Matariki, the cauldrons of fire, Civic Square, Hastings.

5pm-8pm, Te Hikoi Whetu, Parade of Matariki Stars, Civic Square, Hastings.

5pm-10pm, Hakari Matariki, feast and entertainment, celebrate the first Matariki public holiday, Tomoana Showgrounds, Hastings.

6pm, Matariki digital light show, Civic Square, Hastings.

6pm-9pm, Marama Luminate Light Trail, Matariki Hunga Nui ki Te Whanganui-a-Orotu, Waitangi Park, State Highway 51, Awatoto, Napier.

6pm-9pm, Matariki Pu rakau, storytelling, Civic Square, Hastings.