Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti. Photo: Erica Sinclair Photography / Supplied / Te Matatini
Thousand's of people are expected to converge on New Plymouth for the bienniel kapa haka national competition Te Matatini.
Te Matatini will be held at New Plymouth's Bowl of Brooklands, beginning 25 February to 1 March with a record 55 teams vying for the national title.
With accommodation exhausted, Te Matatini chief executive Carl Ross told Midday Report the economic impact was going to be huge.
"We're looking at 70,000 over the five day period which is fantastic because it's going to be bringing in $27 million of economic impact to the Taranaki region," Ross said.
The festival had been extended from four days to five - the reason being the growth in interest for haka.
"There's a big trend in growth, exponential growth within all age groups that are actively participating in kapa haka if we look at the primary and intermediate number of schools that we have - 2000 schools have kapa haka teams and that reflects over to secondary [schools]."
Senior kapa haka was also growing, he said.
"Te Matatini has been able to secure funding to be able to support growth within the regions and the more money we push into the regions, the more people want to actively participate in that."
For people who cannot make it to the Bowl of Brooklands, Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga will be broadcasted live on TVNZ 2, TVNZ+, Whakaata Māori, and online on Māori+. It will also be translated into six different languages via Te Matatini app and selected channels.
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