Nelson has been planning for four years already for the 2027 event. Photo: suplied/Te Matatini Enterprises
Nelson council staff and hospitality leaders say they remain confident the region had capacity to host the world's largest kapa haka festival, after it was dropped as the 2027 host.
Te Matatini Society Incorporated, which runs the biennial haka tournament, has said the next festival will not be held in Nelson as planned, amid concerns over the region's ability to accommodate the rapidly growing event.
Expressions of interest are now open for other regions wanting to host the event.
Nelson Māori ward councillor Kahu PakiPaki said the news was disappointing and came after many years work.
"It's not good enough to say that Te Tauihu can't host, because how we host is really up to us," he said.
"The event has really grown bigger than itself, and it's grown bigger than the regions, which is really disappointing, because the central government money that came to support this event a few years ago was really to be able to support the regions."
Nelson Māori ward councillor Kahu PakiPaki Photo: Supplied
The government committed $48.7 million in funding to Te Matatini over three years in Budget 2024.
The investment was said to be intended to enable Te Matatini to embed its regional development model and to expand from a biennial, national festival to support kapa haka in the regions.
PakiPaki said the region had plenty of time to prepare for the 2027 event and it had learnt lessons from hosting the primary school kapa haka nationals, Te Mana Kuratahi, in 2023 and the national secondary schools kapa haka festival, Te Huinga Whetū - Ngā Kapa Haka o Ngā Kura Tuarua o Aotearoa in 2024.
PakiPaki travelled to Taranaki for this year's event and said the region, which was similar in size and population to Nelson, did a fantastic job of hosting.
It was estimated 70,000 people attended Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga in Ngāmotu, New Plymouth, with 15,000 people attending the finals day.
"I went to Taranaki and I saw what they did there and it gave me great confidence leaving New Plymouth, knowing that the scale of their city and their region was more than a match to be able to host a very successful Te Matatini," PakiPaki said.
"By not having it here in Te Tauihu, that's a clear message to the rest of the country that Te Matatini is no longer part of the regions, it's only really for the main centres to be able to host."
Most regions would struggle at peak times
Hospitality NZ Nelson branch president Alexander Siebentritt also said the decision not to hold the event in Nelson was hugely disappointing, and he believed there was adequate accommodation to host those attending an event of its size.
He said the fact Te Matatini was to be held in March likely contributed to concerns over infrastructure.
"If you host a large event in the middle of high season in the summertime, I think you will find that most regions in New Zealand would struggle with accommodation availability."
Nelson City Council acting chief executive Alec Louverdis said a governance group was set up with council staff and members of the Cultural Council earlier this year, to prepare for Te Matatini in 2027, after several years work behind the scenes.
The council allocated $300,000 in its Long Term Plan to support the delivery of Te Matatini in 2027.
To date, around $7000 had been spent sending staff to Te Matatini in Taranaki to get a feel for the event and around $5000 working with the Nelson Regional Development Agency on accommodation.
The decision not to hold the event in Nelson was disappointing, but the council understood the reasons for it and respected the decision.
"We think we put our best foot forward and we would have been able to make this work.
"We knew the task that was awaiting us, we felt that we could deliver this."
Louverdis said Nelson had coped with large events before, like when it hosted three Rugby World Cup matches in 2011, the Bay Dreams music festival and the two recent kapa haka national competitions.
Around 35,000 people attended the national secondary schools' kapa haka festival, Ngā Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua o Aotearoa in Nelson last June, and Louverdis said they were expecting at least 50,000 people at Te Matatini.
He said finding accommodation and training facilities had been the biggest challenges.
"We felt that accommodation-wise, flights, traffic, transportation, training facilities, we had put a lot of thought into all aspects and we felt that we could have delivered and were ready."
There were regulations that had prevented kapa haka groups from staying at schools in the region during previous events, but the council's regulatory staff had been working to address those issues.
Louverdis remained positive that Nelson could host the event in the future.
"If they want to bring it to the regions, we know we've done this work, we know that we can be successful, and we know that we could do it."
Sonny Alesana, who is chairperson of Te Tauihu o te Waka a Maui Māori Cultural Council. Photo: RNZ/ Samantha Gee
'We felt like we were ready'
Te Tauihu o Te Waka-a-Māui Māori Cultural Council chairperson Sonny Alesana said it was a disappointing decision for the region because of the amount of work that has gone into the last four years.
"We feel like we were ready but once again understand that the decision by Te Matatini is based around the exponential growth of Te Matatini over the last four or five years."
Alesana said Te Matatini was about ensuring there was a platform for all iwi and all regions to tell their stories on the stage.
"Te Matatini from Te Tauihu's point of view is owned by rohe. Te Matatini I guess it's the waka that all rohe stand on and row together and therefore it's really important for Te Matatini to look at formats that continues to allow all rohe, all 12 rohe, 13 including Ahitereiria (Australia) to ensure that we have that voice."
Te Matatini does not exist without the 13 regions, he said, so it should look at the format so the smaller regions like Te Tauihu got their opportunity to host.
"We feel that yes, there is still an opportunity for us to host," Alesana said.
Te Matatini Society Incorporated tiamana (chair) Tā Herewini Parata said the board's decision was not a reflection on Te Tauihu, but a result of the festival's rapid growth and concerns over smaller regions' ability to accommodate burgeoning numbers of kaihaka and supporters.
Since the festival schedule was set more than a decade ago, the event had experienced unprecedented growth and was now a significant event on the nation's calendar.
"While this decision may be disappointing for many, we have had to be realistic and seriously
re-evaluate the risks of holding Te Matatini in its current format in smaller regions."
The organisation had completed a comprehensive evaluation and while Te Tauihu had worked hard to find solutions to deliver the festival at its current size, concerns remained, particularly around accommodation, transport and freight capabilities.
The locations for future Te Matatini festivals;
2027: TBC
2029: Tainui (Waikato)
2031: Te Tai Tokerau (Northland)
2033: Rangitāne (Manawatū / Wairarapa)
2035: Mātaatua (Bay of Plenty)
2037: Te Tairāwhiti (Gisborne / East Coast)
2039: Te Arawa (Rotorua)
2041: Waitaha (Christchurch / Southern)
