Day three of the national Te Matatini kapa haka festival includes five-times winners Te Waka Huia, performing in the pool of 15 teams scheduled for the day.
Nga Tumanako performing on the morning of day 3 of Te Matatini, the national kapa haka festival. Photo: Te Matatini, Aotearoa Kapa Haka Ltd.
Hundreds of people were lining up early at the gates this morning for day three of Te Matatini, the national kapa haka competition.
The weather hasn't dampened fans' enthusiasm for the festival, many wearing wet weather gear.
Today, the final pool of 15 groups will heat up the stage, including Te Waka Huia, who have won the competition five times.
Later on this evening the nine finalists will be announced who will perform again tomorrow. From those top nine groups will be the new national kapa haka champion.
Yesterday, the second pool of 15 groups, Te Haumi, performed. One of those groups was Auckland group Ngā Tūmanako, who took the opportunity to encourage people to learn te reo.
The current champions Whangara Mai Tawhiti also performed and they paid tribute to one of their performers, Erica Jones, who died in a car accident last year.