Muriwhenua Kapa Haka, from the Far North, placed first in last weekend’s Te Tai Tokerau kapa haka regional championships in Whangārei. Photo / Waitangi Cultural Committee
Muriwhenua Kapa Haka, from the Far North, placed first in last weekend’s Te Tai Tokerau kapa haka regional championships in Whangārei. Photo / Waitangi Cultural Committee
The Far North’s Muriwhenua has again shown its prowess by defending its title at last weekend’s Te Tai Tokerau Kapa Haka Regional Championships.
The event was held at Whangārei’s McKay Stadium on Saturday and despite days of heavy rain before, it went ahead with a big crowd enthusiastically enjoying theperformances on stage.
The champs continued even though Whangārei and Far North were under states of emergency.
Event organisers, the Waitangi Cultural Committee, said group representatives voted to proceed with the competition and the public was asked to support safely from home via livestream.
Fourteen groups were scheduled to take part but two rōpū, Ngāti Wai Kaumātua from the east coast and Te Hikutū from South Hokianga, were forced to withdraw because of flooding in their areas.
Hātea Kapa Haka, from Whangārei, came second at the Te Tai Tokerau kapa haka regionals. Photo / Waitangi Cultural Committee
The reduced number of participants meant the number of qualifying spots to represent Te Whare Tapu o Ngāpuhi at Te Matatini in Waikato next year dropped from four to three.
Muriwhenua won for the second year running, defending their regional crown amid a decade-long history of stirring performances at the event.
They will be joined at Te Matatini, the biennial national Māori performing arts festival and competition that is often referred to as the Olympics of kapa haka, by Hātea Kapa Haka, from Whangārei, and Te Kapa Haka o Waerenga Te Kaha, from Moerewa.
