Womad: Tui Ora new event partner of New Plymouth-based festival

Tui Ora has signed on as an event partner for the festival. Photo / Amanda Senior

New Zealand’s award-winning Womad festival has a new event partner.

Long-time festival partner Tui Ora, a kaupapa Māori organisation, has joined TSB as an event partner.

Tui Ora pou tū kūrae [chief executive] Alana Ruakere (Taranaki/Te Āti Awa) says the partnership will give audiences a chance to connect with te ao Māori and make the festival accessible to more Taranaki whānau.

“Womad is all about the beauty and value of diverse cultures and lived experiences. That’s an empowering perspective for the whānau we work with to see. We look forward to inviting whānau, who might not otherwise get the opportunity, to join and experience Womad’s joyous inclusivity first-hand and see te ao Māori celebrated as the taonga it is.”

Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT) chief executive Suzanne Porter says festival organisers were thrilled an existing partner was taking over the space previously held by Todd Energy.

“We’ve celebrated a long partnership with Tui Ora that has generated several great initiatives. This new partnership level will be a powerful vehicle for celebrating Māori culture. There are strong synergies between Womad’s ethos of manaakitanga, giving the stage to indigenous voices, and Tui Ora’s whānau-centric wellbeing initiatives that make this a partnership made in heaven.”

The 2024 festival will mark 17 years of Womad partnering with Tui Ora.

The move to an event partner level comes with plans to refresh and amplify Te Paepae’s presence and offering at the festival, says Womad NZ’s iwi liaison manager Wharehoka Wano.

“Te Paepae is the cultural heart of the festival, and a welcoming space for artists and attendees where Māori culture and, specifically, Taranaki Māori narratives are woven into the Womad experience through workshops, activities and performances.”

The Details:

What: Womad NZ 2024

When: Friday, March 15 to Sunday, March 17

Where: TSB Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth

Tickets: On sale now from www.womad.co.nz