Three waka sailed into Auckland's Viaduct Harbour this morning marking the start of the Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival.
Participants prepare for Auckland's Tamaki Herenga Waka Festival. Photo: RNZ / Mohamed Hassan
The event began with a powhiri at The Cloud on Queens Wharf, kicking off three days celebrating Maori culture in Tāmaki Makaurau.
The festival includes wood carving, hangi cooking lessons, and waka competitions - the first waka races in the harbour in 150 years.
Organisers say they hope the festival will highlight aspects of Maori culture often neglected in Auckland.
They said it was a way to showcase the 19 iwi of the Auckland region and their culture. Festival goers will be able to paddle or sail one of the many traditional Māori waka.
Photo: RNZ / Mohamed Hassan
The three-day celebration also features a beam of light shining upwards from the summit of Rangitoto.
Te Haeata o Rangitoto is a large-scale outdoor light activation, coinciding with the inaugural Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival.
Te Rangi-i-totongia-ai-te-ihu-o-Tamatekapua, more commonly known as Rangitoto, is a distinctive feature on Auckland's horizon from both land and sea.
Photo: RNZ / Mohamed Hassan
An array of powerful lights mounted near the summit points directly upwards towards the heavens, creating a pou haeata, a column of light emanating from the crater.
This light beam echoes the form of traditional pou herenga, hitching posts or moorings for waka.
The lighting is a joint pilot project led by Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the 13 iwi of Marutūāhu, Ngāti Whātua and Waiohua -Tāmaki, together known as the Tāmaki Collective), and supported by Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED).