Photos: Oromahoe School's Matariki Light Festival

Thirteen-year-old Grace Gundry checks out the glow-in-the-dark space tunnel. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A huge crowd turned out on Saturday for Oromahoe School's Matariki Light Festival, a popular mid-winter community get-together marking the Māori New Year. The school grounds were transformed into an outer-space-themed wonderland with highlights such as a lantern walk, a glow-in-the-dark space tunnel, live music by Jam Sandwich and the Wandering Minstrels, kapa haka and lots of warming kai. The school's main fundraiser of the year, the 2020 event was canned due to the Covid-19 pandemic and this year's had to be postponed by a week due to bad weather before the festival finally went ahead without a hitch.

If there were a best-dressed fairy prize it surely would have gone to Oromahoe seven-year-olds Hanna Carlyon (left) and Maddie Brooke. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Inky Vink and daughter Phoebe, 5, choose a lantern. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The Wandering Minstrels, June Jacobson (left), Felice Tombs, Ben Tombs and Larry Jacobson brought some medieval melodies to the festival. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Tianke Hartman, 7, gets her face painted. Photo / Peter de Graaf

"Bubble Man" Keith Earl shows how he earned his nickname. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Aaron Scott, of Haruru, slaves over a hot pizza oven. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Grace Gundry, 13, Tor Godwin, 7, and Jana Godwin, 13, check out the space tunnel. Photo / Peter de Graaf