Adding to the mix of cultural diversity in coastal Bay

Major cultural festivals are often regarded as local events for local people, but as editor Chris Birt found out during a visit to Tauranga over Labour Weekend, they also provide fascination and enlightened experiences for international visitors.

Tauranga Moana Tauranga Tangata was, for all intents and purposes, an occasion centred on the place and its people.

But those manuhiri - the visitors from a host of countries - who learned this festival was being staged were more than happy with the experiences they gained as a result.

This year’s festival was the second of its kind staged in Tauranga, but as far as the organising committee is concerned, it won’t be the last.

The aim, says festival spokesman Jack Thatcher, is to make Tauranga Moana Tauranga Tangata one of the Bay of Plenty region’s iconic events.

And judging on the response from the international visitors who participated this year, that’s an ambition worth pursuing.

The Tauranga festival ran over four days, commencing on the Friday of the long weekend and winding up on the afternoon of Labour Monday.

The landing of the Takitimu waka (canoe) and its crew of kaihoe (paddlers) made a strong impression on those gathered at Tauranga wharf, signalling as it did the start of an festival that undoubtedly has potential as a future tourism event for the coastal Bay region.

The strong focus on the weekend’s activities were on cultural events - the planting of the carved pou (posts) and blessings that went with that occasion, the stirring waiata (song) of the kapa haka groups that took the stage in the marquee at the marina and the simply awesome tribal treasures on display at Te Amokura, the hapu taonga exhibition - all provided an insight into the world of Maori in the rohe of Tauranga Moana.

Jack says the success of the second festival was clear and planning for a similar event in 2006 has already begun.

A clear international presence was felt at the festival, mainly as a result of the programme being made available through the region’s visitor centres and the pre-event publicity generated by Tourism Bay of Plenty.

Jack says he personally spoke with Dutch, South African and Scandinavian visitors, with the blond hair of a group from the latter region standing out strongly.

“I navigated my way through the crowd to speak with these manuhiri and they were really enjoying their experience among our people,” he says.

Americans, English and Irish and a number of Asian visitors also attended the festival, with the kapa haka performances and intricate carvings on the waka particularly captivating them.

Regional tourism chief executive Jim Little says the coastal Bay of Plenty’s cultural heritage is based on the original landings of waka at Katikati, Mauao and Maketu and all the history since that time.

“Today, having events celebrating the cultural diversity of the region is increasing the number of international and domestic visitors, as well as furthering the development of Maori tourism product,” he says.