NZ's rangatahi take the stage and breathe with ease at Smokefree Tangata Beats 2025

When the national finals of Smokefree Tangata Beats hit Auckland this Saturday, the spotlight won’t just be on the young musicians chasing their dreams.

Alongside the music, audiences will experience Protect Your Breath, a health activation designed to empower rangatahi and their whānau to critically think about vaping and its impact on their bodies.

Backed by Te Whatu Ora, the campaign brings together two worlds that matter deeply to young people: creativity and well-being.

Central to the activation is the Later Vaper Arcade, an interactive experience that uses play to explore the Connection to Hā (breath) and the choices we make around it.

The Arcade has already been active in the community, creating spaces for young people to engage in a series of games and interactive activities that encourage them to consider how to keep their lungs healthy now and in the future.

Inside, visitors will be challenged with playful activities that metaphorically reflect on the quality of fresh air.

One of the interactive games in the Later Vaper Arcade. Photo/Protect Your Breath

With young Pasifika falling through the cracks, health advocates say there is an urgent need for community-focused vaping education and policy reform.

The 2024 ARFNZ/SPANZ/NZAIMS Vaping in New Zealand Youth Survey by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation (ARF) studied more than 11,300 Year 7 to 13 students.

The survey found that overall vaping rates among children in Years 9 to 13 have significantly dropped from 26.6 per cent in 2021 to 12.2 per cent in 2023.

Despite NZ restricting nicotine vapes to 18 years and over, 24.6 per cent of underage students still obtained them directly from retailers, including vape stores, dairies, and service stations. Photo /Unsplash.

For Glenn Common, co-founder and director of Smokefree Rockquest, this alignment of music and public health is intentional.

Common says the kaupapa has always been about more than just performance.

“Pete Rainey, the co-founder, and myself were both working in music education in Christchurch,” he says. “The initial germ of the idea came from a radio station that wanted to have a presence in schools, and they thought this was a good way of doing it.

Common adds that funding for youth initiatives became available as part of Christchurch’s sesquicentennial celebrations in 1990.

Connecting to hā (breath). Photo/Protect Your Breath

A legacy of Smokefree support

Common recalls how the partnership began in the same year that former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the Smokefree brand.

At the time, the Ministry of Health was replacing cigarette advertising with community initiatives.

“We went to them and said we are working with schools right throughout the country. We want to go even bigger here. We support what you do, we would like to be involved in this,” Common says.

“Our mantra was to do the best job we possibly can so that it keeps going and they can’t stop it.”

That persistence paid off. More than three decades later, Smokefree Rockquest and Tangata Beats have become incubators for some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most recognisable artists, consistently conveying messages of hauora (health) to the next generation.

The kaupapa has now expanded from being solely smokefree to also addressing vaping harm prevention.

“There are different issues coming through as society changes, and we are still really keen to be involved, at the forefront of education, messaging around public health for the good of everybody.”

Responding to a new challenge

Common acknowledges the complexity of vaping as an issue and points out that while some see it as a cessation tool, many young people now use it recreationally.

That is why initiatives like Protect Your Breath are important, as they ground the conversation in cultural connection, resilience, and the power of informed choice.

Celebrating culture and creativity

Tangata Beats highlights Māori and Pacific musicians, compositions, and identities.

First introduced as Tangata Pasifika Beats, an award section of Rockquest in 1994, it later evolved into a standalone event by the late ‘90s.

“It is to be inclusive, and the cultural elements that are reflected within that were not necessarily coming through as the result of Rockquest…so the branding has moved around on that a little bit.”

The two competitions run in parallel, providing rangatahi a platform to express themselves across genres and languages.

Building futures, not one-night stars

Common says, “The odds aren’t stacked in favour of the arts”, and the industry can be challenging to navigate.

Although virality is common in today’s digital age, achieving longevity in the arts requires dedication and persistence.

For Common, the true value of the competition lies not only in the stars who achieve international recognition, such as Nesian Mystic, Alien Weaponry, Adeaze, Ria Hall, and Spacifix, but also in the thousands of young people who participate year after year.

“The thing we're most proud of is the number of students who have been involved since they were 12, 13, and go year after year after year and come back. Sometimes they'll get through to the national final, sometimes they don't.

“But the fact that they see the competition as something that, even if it doesn't reward them in their first year, that they have gained enough out of the experience that they want to continue and do more, that I think is the best thing that we can do.”

Smokefree Tangata Beats national final takes place at 7pm on Saturday, 13 September at Auckland’s ASB Waterfront Theatre. Tickets are available here.