The national Ngā Manu Kōrero competition will be held online, rather than in-person for the first time ever.
The two-day competition will start streaming online on the Ngā Manu Kōrero 2021 Manawatū/Horowhenua Facebook page on September 22. Photo: Ngā Manu Kōrero
The national committee decided to continue the 56-year-old competition this year, as they say it is an important platform to hear the thoughts of rangatahi.
Chair of the host committee ki Manawatū Horowhenua, Nick Fonotoe, said the national committee prerpared for this situation earlier in the year.
"They had created guidelines about what would happen if parts of New Zealand, or the whole of the country, went into lockdown again." Fonotoe said.
"This was because last year's competition was cancelled and we definitely knew it could be a possibility again this year but we didn't want to cancel it again."
"Despite the uncertainty and difficulties around doing it online, we will try our best to make it happen."
Fonotoe said one issue the national committee had with livestreaming it from each competitor online, was the authenticity of the speeches.
They were concerned that if it was completely live streamed, there could be a possibility of people helping the competitors with notes behind the camera and issues with internet connectivity, as not everyone has the same internet connection.
"The decision was made to use the recordings of the speeches from the regional competitions as they were held in a competition setting."
Fonotoe said the rangatahi involved were a bit guttered about the physical event being cancelled.
"The event is also a chance to whakawhanaungatanga with new people from around the country and make new friends. They are upset about not having the social interaction but are still keen to see how their kōrero stacks up with the other regional winners," Fonotoe said.
Fonotoe said people needed to adapt for the new world we live in.
"Who knows, this might happen again. So this could be a first run through for us so we can learn how to improve on this form of delivery," he said.
"If this happened again, the national committee would aim to have all speeches recorded in the same high quality so everyone is on the same level."
The two day competition will start streaming online on the Ngā Manu Kōrero 2021 Manawatū/Horowhenua Facebook page on 22 September.
The first day will feature senior speakers in the Korimako and Pei Te Hurinui Jones sections.
The second day will be junior speakers in the Sir Turi Carroll and Rawhiti Ihaka sections.
The event will conclude with prizegiving and the handing over of the mauri to 2022 hosts, Wairarapa / Awakairangi.
Once it's safe to do so the winners will be invited to a physical face-to-face celebration to present them with a taonga.