The 2017 Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival will takes place at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre and Viaduct Basin on Auckland Anniversary Weekend, from the 28th to the 30th of January.
The festival’s musical line-up includes a host of established and emerging performers, as well kapa haka performances and tributes to some of the legendary performers of Aotearoa musical history.
On Saturday 28 January, in tribute to the late Dr Ngapo ‘Bub’ Wehi and his wife Pimia, founders of Te Waka Huia, the main stage programme will kick off with a performance by 80 kaihaka, performers from the kapa haka rōpū of Te Waka Huia.
Across the three days of the festival, some of New Zealand’s brightest musical stars will team up with emerging musicians in collaborations designed to nurture the next generation. The established musicians are Whirimako Black; Ria Hall; Seth Haapu; Rob Ruha; Ranea Aperahama; and Majic Paora. The emerging talent includes Aporonia Arahanga; Sherydon Ngaropo; Kaaterama Pou; Ngapera Aperahama, Te Punawai and Teone Hotu; and Alamanda Tahu.
The festival finale will honour the life and music of Prince Tui Teka, Maui ‘Dalvanius’ Prime and Sir Howard Morrison. It will feature songs that have been on New Zealand airways for years, and in some cases, will be performed by people who were mentored by these giants of the Māori musical world, including the Patea Māori Club and Howie Morrison Jnr.
In addition to its three-day programme of music, kapa haka and DJs, the Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival features workshops and displays of traditional Māori crafts, games and healing; storytelling; inter-tribal waka races and opportunities for the public to paddle a waka and sail waka hourua (double-hulled sailing waka).
Waka at the festival include:
- Te Kotūiti – waka tauā (war waka), Ngāti Paoa.
- Haunui – waka haurua, managed by Te Toki Voyaging Trust for all iwi and owned by all nations.
- Aotearoa 1 – waka haurua, managed by Te Toki Voyaging Trust for all iwi and owned by all nations.
- Two waka tangata, managed by Tāmaki Herenga Waka Trust on behalf of Mana Whenua of Tāmaki.
- Kahakura – waka tangata, managed by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
It also includes a marketplace selling Māori crafts and kai. Auckland Art Gallery and Auckland Museum will be running programmes at the festival.
You can see the full program for the festival HERE.