NOVICE: Te Whata Tau o Putatuaki’s novice kapa haka practise their performance. The group will take the stage first in Friday’s Rangitaiki Kapa Haka Festival. Photo
Haylee King D4099-04
HUNDREDS of children will perform on stage at this year’s Rangitaiki Kapa Haka Festival on Friday.
The biennial festival will be held for the first time at Kawerau, in the Ron Hardie Recreation Centre, hosted by Te Whata Tau o Putauaki.
The festival involves children from primary schools in the Whakatane and Kawerau districts and its mission is to “instil the knowledge of our ancestors in the hearts of our children, to motivate and impassion, so that they may reach their full potential”.
The festival begins at 8am with the novice section, which involves eight groups.
From 12.15pm seven groups will perform in the whakangahau (entertainment) section.
Novice prizegiving will take place at 2pm before competitive groups take the stage at 2.30pm.
Te Whata Tau o Putauaki teacher and festival organiser Warati Paraha said this year 27 groups would perform from 15 schools.
Te Kura o Te Teko and Te Kura o Te Paroa, the joint winners of the 2014 competitive section at the festival, would compete again this year.
The two shared the top award in the whakangahau section last year.
Te Kura o Te Paroa also took out first place in the novice section with Te Kura o Taneatua claiming second and Motueka (Allandale School) taking third.
Ms Paraha said she expected a large crowd to attend the festival – “1400 people have tickets and are definitely going to be there throughout the day”.
The recreation centre will be converted into a stadium-style venue with a temporary stage.
Stalls to purchase food will include barbecues, baking, soup, hangi, fried bread, venison and pork burgers.
Te Whata Tau o Putauaki principal Ripeka Lessels said $20,000 to $24,000 was needed to pay the event.
Ms Paraha said this year was the first in the festival’s history that money had been secured before planning began.
“Everything is up in the cloud,” Mrs Lessels said.
The organising has been done digitally and all the information was accessible to the festival committee, organisers and participating schools through an online platform.
Mrs Lessels said she was very pleased the festival was being held in Kawerau.
“I have taught here for the past 20 years and I don’t know why I haven’t pursued this before.”