Waka inclusion perfect fit for Art Deco festival

Art Deco Trust events manager Peter Mooney. Photo / File

Art Deco explorers will get the opportunity to experience a slice of history, the stories of Maori as well as a bit of sailing on the summer seas during the upcoming big celebratory weekend.

The Te Matau a Maui Voyaging Trust is set to stage an Art Deco Powhiri and Waka Experience, which will include a series of voyages and events as part of the Tremains Art Deco Weekend which will run from February 18 to 22.

The trust received a Community Development grant from the Napier City Council to help in staging the events.

To kick off their involvement in the weekend, members of the Te Matau a Maui Trust will join with council representatives, local iwi and members of the Art Deco Trust for an official Maori opening for the celebrations on February 17.

The hour-long opening will be staged at West Quay from 9am with the waka set to be welcomed into the marina by local kaumatua and performance groups.

People will be invited to look over it afterwards.

The trust will stage five two-hour long waka experiences during the weekend with passengers treated to platters of indigenous cuisine while hearing of Maori legends, how the names of places they will see came about and how life was for Maori across the region before the 1931 earthquake.

Those on the planned Friday evening sailing will also get the extra bonus of being able to watch the aerial display over the waters off Marine Parade.

The waka's inclusion into the weekend events was special, and fitting, organisers said.

Art Deco Trust events manager Peter Mooney said it was too easy to forget that Maori were as badly affected by the earthquake as the pakeha population.

"These trips will provide an insight into how Maori were affected by the quake as well as a lesson in traditional sailing techniques."

Waka event co-ordinator Honoria Ropiha said the council's support and encouragement through its community development team was a strong factor in the Te Matau a Maui Trust deciding to take part in the weekend's events.

"Waka trips bring a different side to the weekend - the combination of Maori stories, history and water-based activity makes it a unique experience."

It will be the second year the Te Matau a Maui waka has taken part in the weekend events and waka experiences will cost $115 per person, with bookings essential.