Te Tauihu kapa haka team Te Kuru Marutea secured the People's Choice award in Taranaki in 2025, but won't be able to perform at home in 2027. Photo: Supplied/Te Matatini
Te Matatini risks alienating the regions with its decision not to host the 2027 event in Te Tauhihu, Whakatū Nelson's Māori Ward councillor has warned.
It was announced on Monday that the next national kapa haka competition will not be hosted in the Top of the South, as had been planned since 2013.
Society heamana (chair) Tā Herewini Parata said the decision was not a reflection on Te Tauihu (the Top of the South Island).
"As the festival continues to grow in size and significance, the planning and delivery of Te Matatini must reflect that scale," he said.
"While this decision is heartbreaking for many, we have had to be realistic and seriously re-evaluate the risks of holding Te Matatini in its current format in our smaller regions."
The festival had seen "unprecedented growth" and despite Te Tauihu working hard to find solutions, Parata said concerns remained, particularly around accommodation and transport - about 70,000 people attended the 2025 event in Taranaki.
Te Matatini was now inviting expressions of interest for hosting the 2027 event.
Nelson's Māori Ward councillor said the news was "outrageously disappointing".
"We had quite a few options on the table that we've got plenty of time to be able to deliver on those, but… they're not interested in trying to keep Te Matatini connected to the regions," Kahu Paki Paki said.
Nelson Whakatū Māori Ward councillor Kahu Paki Paki says the decision to pull out of Te Tauihu risks alienating other regions around the motu. Photo: Andrew Board/Nelson Weekly
"They run the risk, a very serious risk, of isolating some of the regions that won't even get a chance to host."
He acknowledged that there were some "challenges" in hosting Ngā Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua, the national secondary schools' kapa haka festival, in 2024 but they had provided "good learning lessons" for local organisers and ultimately the event was a "great success".
Kapa haka was community-focused and community-building, and so the prospect of iwi and hapū around the motu missing out on hosting Te Matatini in favour of the main centres was "really sad", Paki Paki said.
"If Taranaki could do it, and they did it really well, there's no reason why we couldn't have done it just as well… they have forgotten their roots, they've walked away from the regions. It's a real shame."
Parata was not able to respond in time for publication, but on Tuesday morning he told Waatea News that he acknowledged that the decision was "disappointing" for Te Tauihu.
"There's over a million people in New Zealand that have got an opinion on Te Matatini - and their opinions are all right - however it's the board's decision to make," he said.
But he added that there was still "a lot of goodwill" for the regions.
"Maybe, I can't say outright, we need to look at the whole festival and ways of hosting Te Matatini in the smaller rohe."
That could include potentially reducing the number of kapa haka groups that participate down from the current 55 so areas like Te Tauihu could host the festival in the "near future".
Nelson and Tasman's mayors are also disappointed in the decision, but understood the capacity concerns from Te Matatini.
Tasman Mayor Tim King said even though the two youth kapa haka events Te Tauihu previously hosted were "very successful", there were still challenges with many people travelling daily between Nelson and Marlborough.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said the benefits of hosting Te Matatini outweighed the costs for the council, and that the organisation had supported hosting the event locally "at every step".
Both hoped Te Tauihu would be able to host the event in the future and would be keen to see the return of the youth competitions again.
"We… are keen for this uniquely New Zealand art to still be very welcome in the city and region," Smith said.
Sonny Alesana, chair of the local Te Tauihu o Te Waka-a-Māui Māori Cultural Council. Photo: Supplied
Sonny Alesana, heamana (chair) of the local Te Tauihu o Te Waka-a-Māui Māori Cultural Council, was hopeful the region could have the opportunity to host again sometime in the future.
"We are disappointed, but we also understand the pressure Te Matatini is under, both in terms of its growth and the financial implications of that," he said.
"We are committed to continuing to work with Te Matatini to ensure Te Tauihu does have its time in the sun and that smaller regions are not automatically disqualified from hosting."
Alexander Siebentritt, president of Hospitality NZ's Nelson branch said hosting Te Matatini would have had "very positive effects" for the local economy - the 2023 event in Tāmaki Makarau Auckland generated more than $26 million.
"We just simply have to carry on and focus on how we can find alternatives to fill these gaps."
He said the region was "fantastic" and able to cater to large events.
"This is a great opportunity for another great event to be hosted in our region, if there's anyone out there, I've just heard some dates in February 2027, became available."
Concerns about the region's ability to host the event in 2027 were thrown into the spotlight in March when Te Mauri o Te Matatini was not passed from Taranaki representatives to Te Tauihu.
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
