Heavenly prospects for celebration of a new year

Matariki - the Maori New Year. It’s celebrated by cultures all over the world, albeit under different names. Thus, there’s an opportunity to promote the event - which had such meaning to the Maori of old - as a significant tourism opportunity.

Already around Aotearoa New Zealand, Matariki celebrations are being held under different guises.

It’s an event undergoing a renaissance, with indigenous kai (food) and contemporary music festivals, art shows and a host of other special occasions being staged around the country.

Te Papa, the national museum, has been hosting events that celebrate Matariki for more than a decade, and in many other towns and cities, the ancient celebration of the dawning of a new year are capturing the imagination and spirit of new generations of New Zealanders.

George Hickton ...
Enthusiastically embracing Matariki

Hawke’s Bay has been celebrating Matariki, as an event to be cherished, since 1999 and now promotes and operates the largest festival of its type in Aotearoa New Zealand.

All around New Zealand there are activities surrounding the first showing, each June, of the stars that make up Mata-ariki - the eyes of God.

Known to the Europeans as Pleiades, this cluster of stars is clearly visible on a clear night, rising in the north east, in a similar position to where the sun shows itself at the beginning of each day.

The arrival of Matariki was one of the most important events of oldworld Maoridom, providing a sure sign that it was time to till the ground in preparation for the planting of crops on which tribal life depended.

It’s an occasion that is marked elsewhere in the world also – by civilisation such as the ancient Greeks and Celts, by the Indians, in Ireland and Japan, in the Middle East, China and Australia.

And of course throughout the Pacific, the ancestral homelands from which the Maori of Aotaeroa New Zealand travelled in their ocean-going waka, Matariki is to this day an event that is universally celebrated.

Such is the gathering pace of this celebration among Maori that there are now calls for Matariki to become a national holiday, replacing the birthday of a Queen who lives on the other side of the world.

The Maori Language Commission has been leading that charge, saying Matariki is part of a natural indigenous cycle and deserves recognition.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton sees tremendous potential in Matariki as an international tourism opportunity for this country.

“It’s a great event,” George says. “We know that our international target market is interested in Maori culture, and an event like this can really add to the ways they can experience that culture.

“The historical significance of Matariki, and the global connection it provides with other cultures who celebrate the same event, also make it a great event to use as a hook.”

Matariki’s profile and events around it have proliferated in the last year or so.

With more events happening, Tourism New Zealand had the opportunity this year - for the first time - to bring media representatives to New Zealand to experience Matariki as part of its International Media Programme.

“This year, for logistical reasons, we focussed on events taking place in Hawke’s Bay,” George says.

“The media personnel, from countries including Australia, Thailand, Japan and the United States, were taken to Matariki and local cultural events and activities in the region.

“Next year we hope to encourage more international media to visit New Zealand during Matariki, and to extend the number of regions that the media visit during their stay.

“Certainly Matariki holds much potential as a ‘hook’ for visiting media to write stories on Maori culture generally, and the regions in which these celebrations take place.

“With increased co-ordination of events, this could definitely work really well as a point of interest for visitors in what is a quieter time for tourism to New Zealand.”