Te Tauihu based group Te Kuru Marutea won the People's Choice Award at this years Te Matatini festival. Photo: suplied/Te Matatini Enterprises
Kapa haka leaders in Te Tauihu o te Waka-a-Māui - the Nelson-Marlborough region - are confident the region is up to the job of hosting Te Matatini in 2027.
Speculation has been rife that the region could miss out on its confirmed host status due to concerns over infrastructure and accommodation.
Much of the accommodation in and around New Plymouth was sold out ahead of this year's festival.
After the festival wrapped up, the chief executive of Te Matatini Carl Ross said because the festival was growing bigger and bigger, the organisation needed to do its "due diligence" before choosing the next host region.
"Before every festival we do our due diligence, and this time our due diligence has changed. It has changed because the festival has become so big, it's gotten massive.
"We have to have a good look at infrastructure, transportation, there are so many areas to look at," Ross said.
Sonny Alesana, chairperson of the Te Tauihu o te Waka-a-Māui Cultural Council, which is organising the event, said those concerns, while valid, have been well accounted for in the decade of planning that has taken place to date.
"We understand there is due diligence that needs to be done, and we fully respect the process, but that does not mean any issues identified are insurmountable," Alesana said.
"We've done our homework, we know the expectations upon us, and we've been working since 2013 to ensure we can live up to expectations and welcome the tens of thousands of manuhiri expected for the event."
Sonny Alesana, chairperson of Te Tauihu o te Waka a Maui Māori Cultural Council. Photo: RNZ/ Samantha Gee
Te Tauihu was confirmed as the host region in 2013. Originally scheduled for 2025, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2021 edition in Tāmaki Makaurau, pushing the event in Whakatū/Nelson out to 2027.
Alesana said the cultural council, established more than 50 years ago to promote the development of kapa haka in the region, was not alone and had strong support from the eight iwi of Te Tauihu, Nelson City Council and the Tasman and Marlborough district councils.
The Nelson Regional Development Agency and other major players in the region were also on board and working together to ensure Te Tauihu could put its best foot forward, he said. Nelson City Council had also established a Te Matatini governance group specifically to deal with infrastructure issues.
"More than a decade of work has gone into this. We've done the groundwork, and we are ready," Alesana said.
He said preparations had ramped up in the past five years.
The cultural council alongside the eight iwi - Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Rangitāne o Wairau and Te Ātiawa o te waka-a-Māui - successfully hosted the national primary school kapa haka competition, Te Mana Kuratahi, in 2023.
They united again seven months later to host the national secondary schools kapa haka festival, Te Huinga Whetū - Ngā Kapa Haka o Ngā Kura Tuarua o Aotearoa, which saw 15,000 visitors descend on the region.
"Hosting these events has allowed us to finetune and identify the gaps and we've worked hard to find solutions where challenges have presented," Alesana said.
While discussions as part of the normal due diligence process were continuing and final decisions still needed to be made, the cultural council's position had not changed, he said.
"We are confident that we can host, and we are actively working with Te Matatini to ensure they have confidence in us, too."
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