Final year of Ngāti Tamaoho leadership as Matariki Festival grows

Tāmaki Makaurau is set to have its biggest Matariki celebration to date with more than 100 events across the city.

This weekend's Auckland Council-supported Matariki Festival marks the end of Ngāti Tamaoho's three-year tenure leading the event as iwi manaaki, the responsibility of overseeing the cultural direction of the festival passing to another Tāmaki Makaurau iwi under a tikanga-based rotation.

A statement from events agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) said council had allocated $296,000 to deliver the 2026 festival, supporting the planning and delivery of its three pou events.

TAU said the council has invested more than $1.03 million in the festival during Ngāti Tamaoho's three years as iwi manaaki.

Ngāti Tamaoho separately told Local Democracy Reporting it received a total of $155,000 over the three years to support Matariki events, clarifying that the council's overall investment covered the wider delivery of the festival rather than funding paid directly to the iwi.

TAU said this year's programme features the highest number of events since the festival began, reflecting growing public interest in celebrating Matariki through community events, exhibitions, performances and cultural activities across the region.

Eight events will be held across South Auckland, including the festival's three signature pou events led by Ngāti Tamaoho, reinforcing the area's significant role in this year's celebrations.

Helen Te Hira, TAU's Director Māori Outcomes, said the festival remained firmly grounded in mana whenua leadership.

"Ngāti Tamaoho has led the kaupapa, cultural themes and ceremonial moments of the festival over the past three years, while Auckland Council Events and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited have supported the delivery of the public programme," she said.

While there are no specifically Pacific-led events in this year's programme, TAU said Pacific artists and communities are represented across a range of events and exhibitions.

The organisation said Pacific participation continues to evolve through relationships between mana whenua and Pacific communities, reflecting Auckland's longstanding cultural connections while ensuring Matariki remains led by Māori.

A "Happy Matariki" sign at a community celebration marking the Māori New Year. Photo/Auckland Council

For Rachel, a Māori - Samoan resident from South Auckland, that approach is exactly why Pacific communities should embrace Matariki.

"To me personally, Matariki is a time for rest," she said.

"If we think back to traditional and ancient Māori times, this is the time where the land was resting, the sea was resting, people were resting.

"So Matariki is like a reset for me. It's a time where I have to remind myself to slow down and that it's okay to slow down.

"I don't have to put pressure on myself that I should be going at 100 miles an hour."

Rachel said many Pacific families were still learning about Matariki, creating an opportunity to deepen understanding of te ao Māori.

Art exhibitions are among the many ways communities celebrate Matariki, the Māori New Year. Photo/Auckland Council

"I just hope that maybe more of our Pacific people will turn to tangata whenua and take a page out of their book and somehow find a way to make it relate to their daily lives today."

She said participating in Matariki was a way of honouring tangata whenua while recognising shared values across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

"At the end of the day, this is whenua Māori. It's tangata whenua that reside in Aotearoa.

"So while we are guests to our cousins on this land, why not honour them by immersing ourselves into their traditions?"

Rachel said Matariki also offered an opportunity for Māori and Pacific communities to celebrate together.

"We have Christmas, and that's celebrated all over the world, Easter all over the world.

"But something like Matariki, that's uniquely ours.

"If it's not just Māori sending that message out, but we also have our whānau of the Pacific championing that message as well, I think the more united we are with this messaging, the better for everyone."

Ngāti Tamaoho was invited to comment on its three-year tenure as iwi manaaki and what it considers its legacy ahead of the transition to a new iwi but did not respond before publication.

Matariki Festival 2026 runs from 4 to 19 July and features more than 100 free and low-cost events across Tāmaki Makaurau.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.