Garden to celebrate Puanga

Mainstreet Wanganui's Puanga Garden is back again to celebrate Puanga later this month. Photo/Puanga-garden

This year's Puanga celebrations are underway throughout the Wanganui region.

Puanga, the Wanganui and Taranaki version of Matariki, is a time to reflect on the past, acknowledging those who have passed on while looking towards the future and the coming new season.

It is heralded by the arrival of the star constellation Matariki (the Pleiades) in the dawn sky, though throughout the Wanganui and Taranaki region it is the rising of the preceding star, Puanga (Rigel), that signals the beginning of celebrations.

Matariki celebrations have gained momentum nationally in recent years and have inspired iwi, hapu and whanau to gather for events and share traditional Maori culture with the wider community. Many local organisations have once again come together to create a series of events to celebrate Puanga.

Mainstreet Wanganui will use the Puanga Garden installation they created last year to mark the celebrations. The fountain in Majestic Square will be turned off for a month and will be turned into a native garden. This year's theme is Mahi Raranga, or plants used for weaving.

The plants represent species that would have been gathered at this time of year in preparation for the winter. The long, cold winter months were an ideal time to concentrate on weaving clothes, baskets and nets for communal and individual use. It was also a time to teach the next generation the techniques required to prepare, dye and weave the various raw materials.

The plants have all been supplied by the Whanganui Prison Nursery, which has an extensive selection of native species, and the Taupo Native Nursery.

"Last year, we had an amazing response to the garden; many people wanted us to leave it in," Mainstreet marketing manager Elise Goodge said. "We were tempted, but unfortunately the installation was not designed to be permanent, and the plants would not have survived. This year's garden will be just as spectacular. It is lovely to have our natives and their cultural significance displayed prominently in the CBD."

The garden will be installed on June 20, complete with information panels.

The public are invited to visit Majestic Square on Friday, July 18, at noon, when all the plants will be removed and given free to good homes.