Kapa haka pride cheers Nelson Tasman

A powerful regional economic lift is estimated after Nelson Tasman said haere rā to thousands of students who visited last week to compete in Aotearoa’s largest primary school kapa haka event.

Te Mana Kuratahi is the biennial national primary schools kapa haka competition, and Whakatū is the first Te Waipounamu (South Island) host for the cultural event in its 23-year history.

About 1600 students aged between five and 13 from across Aotearoa, including Richmond’s Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tuia Te Matangi, Nelson Intermediate and Parklands School, took to the Trafalgar Centre stage and displayed their pride for Māori performing arts between 30 October and 2 November.

Organising committee chairperson, Sonny Alesana, praised Nelson Tasman for their manaakitanga (hospitality) and the mana (work) from the estimated 150 people involved to allow the event to keep pace.

“It’s just an amazing experience to see the performers enjoying themselves, firstly on the stage and secondly, the pride that their whole community and families have in them when they come off the stage, so it’s been an amazing event,” he says.

“A lot of people have come through and said [Nelson’s] such a beautiful place, and there’s a lot of natural places to go to, the beach at Tāhunanui, or if they wanted to, they go over to Mārahau, or travel over to Kaiteriteri … so they’ve absolutely loved this place.”

Sonny says between 3000 and 4000 people packed into the Trafalgar Centre each day to witness the pride and some had already booked accommodation for next year’s secondary school kapa haka national competition, Ngā Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua o Aotearoa, which will also be held in Nelson.

Nelson Regional Development Agency chief executive, Fiona Wilson, says the events’ vibrancy, community and economic benefits had been visible for the business community.

“We are hearing such positive, appreciative stories from operators across the region about what Te Mana Kuratahi has brought - especially in this otherwise quieter time for many,” she says.

“Our Nelson YHA booked out, [and] our Nelson Coachlines [enjoyed] driving the teams around the region from as far away as Murchison and St Arnaud. While we can’t accurately assess the economic impact of this particular event without input data, conservatively, the impact of this event will be in the millions of dollars for the region’s economy.”

Fiona says the agency also looked forward to the economic benefits of the region building its kapa haka image in the coming years with the secondary school kapa haka nationals next year and Aotearoa’s largest kapa haka festival, Te Matatini, which will be held in Nelson in 2027.