Matariki 2020 in Auckland: A festival reimagined for a post-Covid world
Friday, 3 July 2020
Auckland’s Matariki festival is a smaller affair this year as Tāmaki Makaurau adjusts to life after lockdown.
Previous years’ programmes of 100+ events have been scaled down. At the festival’s opening on 20 June, people were invited to join the dawn karakia via livestream, rather than in person.
But Councillor Alf Filipaina said the festival’s “sense of kotahitanga (coming together) is just as strong”.
Matariki Festival began with the winter solstice and ends on 15 July, when the rising of the Matariki star cluster will usher in the Māori new year. Until then, events are happening across the city and online.
**READ MORE:
* Kapa haka stars shine at Nelson Matariki festival
* Timaru school celebrates Māori New Year with first festival
* Motueka Matariki Festival an enlightening occasion
**
“We needed to be imaginative to re-shape the festival this year,” festival director Ataahua Papa said.
Smaller community events – many of them outside – have taken the place of larger talks and performances that might have otherwise packed out downtown venues.
Here’s what’s on across Tāmaki Makaurau:
Stop by Aotea Square to experience Matariki On Screen, a selection of videos related to Matariki and te ao Māori screening daily at 11.30am, 1.30pm and 4pm.
If you’re in Ellerslie on Thursday 9 July 10am-3pm, there will be the chance to pick up some poi and show off your skills as well as music and a kapa haka performance from Ngā Uri Taniwha.
Join Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and watch Matariki rise at Takaparawhau on Wednesday, 15 July from 6am. The Auckland Astronomical Society will be on-hand with telescopes and binoculars to help you see the Matariki star cluster and other stars as they appear in the sky before sunrise.
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei is also inviting Aucklanders to join them on their whenua at Te Tōangaroa in Auckland’s CBD to mark the end of Matariki on Wednesday, 15 July.
Head down to Mahuhukiterangi Reserve between 11am and 2pm for kapa haka performances and weaving workshops, and refuel at one of the kai trucks.
Photographer Richie Toa Mills has turned his lens to the constellations, capturing the dark skies over Aotearoa. You can see the exhibition at Māngere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku.
You can also learn about ngā whetū (the stars), ngā aorangi (the planets) and the stories of the night sky at a Matariki kōrero at the planetarium on the evenings of Thursday 9–Saturday 12 July.
Matariki TV has a host of music and talks to immerse yourself in, and performances are also being livestreamed via the Matariki Festival Facebook page.
If you’re keen to learn a new skill, workshops on everything from weaving and carving to wellbeing are happening across the city. Visit the Matariki website for scheduling and ticketing details.
Take the kids along to your local library to learn about the Matariki stars and do some crafting.
If you’re on the North Shore, go star-seeking at Smales Farm – the seven stars of the Matariki cluster have been “hidden” on the new star trail. Grab a torch and go and find them.
Auckland’s Harbour Bridge will light up for Matariki with a display designed by Waikato University’s Māori and Indigenous Studies Professor Rangi Matamua, and festival director Ataahua Papa.
The storyline of this year’s display centres on the idea that nine stars – rather than seven – form the Matariki cluster. Read more on Vector’s website and head there to find out the best spots to watch the display and to get a link to an audio guide, available when the show is about the start.
The show runs for 10 minutes and plays every half hour between 6pm and midnight on the weekends of 4-5 July and 10-12 July.
You’ll also see other landmarks illuminated for Matariki: Auckland Museum, the Sky Tower and light path, and the Queen St lights.
For more information on all the events taking place around the city and online, scheduling and ticketing information, head to the Matariki website.