Ngāti Kahungunu to bring regional flair to Te Matatini kapa haka competition in New Plymouth

Four Ngāti Kahungunu groups are set to grace the state at the Te Matatini Kapahaka festival, bringing with them the styles and songs of the region.

The festival starts on February 25 and runs until March 1 at Pukekura/Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth and is the largest celebration of traditional Māori performing arts.

Groups from across the regions will perform to an audience of about 70,000, and around 1.8 million viewers.

Ngāti Kahungunu Runanga Arts and Culture Board chairwoman Narelle Huata said the performances of each of the Kahungunu groups would use regional style to tell the stories of Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine.

Te Korou Roberts is one of the leaders for Te Rangiura o Wairarapa taking part in Te Matatini 2025.

She said this year’s performances would combine the traditional artform of kapa haka with current social issues.

“With the times we are going through right now it is about kotahitanga, it’s about the Kīngitanga with the passing of our king, and with the new queen coming in ... and the hīkoi of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“I think Kahungunu likes to always strive to make an impact.”

The four groups Te Rangiura o Wairarapa, Te Rerenga Kotuku, Ngāti Ranginui and Te Kapa Haka o Kahungunu had been secretive with performance plans, said Huata.

“They don’t actually reveal too much, because it is pretty competitive.”

There are four pools in the competition - Te Ihu, Te Haumi, Te Kei and Te Awa and the 12 finalists – the top three from each pool – will be announced on the evening of Friday, February 28 and will have to perform for a second time on Saturday, March 1.

Huata said the groups had put six to seven months of practice into the performances, starting as early as August in some cases to prepare.

“Before that the leaders and artistic team are working and choreographing, creating and composing.”

She said the final group members selection was dependent on dedication and performance quality.

“They will observe who the loyal ones are and who are the disciplined ones – it’s not necessarily about who is the best performer.”

She said group members would take with them their iwi and tribal connections and hoped to connect with the people of Taranaki and Aotearoa.

“We always go there with our tribal Kahungunu lens on and we go there to connect.”

Huata said they would use Kahungunu’s stance and style from across the region to wow the panel of judges with the seven components of their performance.

“Everything they do will come with a Kahungunu flair.

“When we perform and when we move it’s with the essence of our ancestors Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine.”

Huata said the “million-dollar question” was to know what it would take to win.

“If I could give some advice, it would be to stay true to your rōpū and stay true to who you are as Kahungunu, as Takitimu, as Heretaunga and be a representative of your tīpuna.”

She said she had whanau across the groups who were getting “hyped up” and were going there with the attitude of winning.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.