‘Forgotten their roots’ – Te Matatini pull out of Te Tauihu for 2027

Te Matatini risks alienating the regions with its decision not to host the 2027 event in Te Tauihu, Whakatū Nelson’s Māori Ward councillor has warned.

It was announced on Monday that the next national kapa haka competition won’t be hosted in the Top of the South as had been planned since 2013.

Society chair Tā Herewini Parata says the decision isn’t a reflection on Te Tauihu.

“As the festival continues to grow in size and significance, the planning and delivery of Te Matatini must reflect that scale,” he says.

“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, Tā Herewini says concerns remained, particularly around accommodation and transport – around 70,000 people attended the 2025 event in Taranaki.

Te Matatini is now inviting expressions of interest for hosting the 2027 event.

Nelson’s Māori Ward councillor says the news is “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 says.

“They run the risk, a very serious risk, of isolating some of the regions that won’t even get a chance to host.”

He acknowledges that there were some “challenges” in hosting Ngā Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua, the national secondary schools’ championship, but they had provided good “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”, Kahu says.

“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.”

The two Nelson Tasman mayors are also disappointed in the decision but understand the capacity concerns from Te Matatini. Tasman Mayor Tim King says, 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 says 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 were keen to see the return of the youth competitions again. Sonny Alesana, chair of the local Te Tauihu o Te Waka-a-Māui Māori Cultural Council, is 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 says.

“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, says 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 says 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.”