As the fourth Kororareka Festival gets under way this weekend, the people of Russell are remembering the 1845 battle that levelled the Bay of Islands township.
Waatea News reports that the Kororareka Marae Society has promised a celebration of Maori culture, with kapa haka, Rawhiti band Sweet As, a beauty contest, traditional kai, the Hone Heke Run from the township to the flagstaff on Maiki Hill, and the firing of a collection of old cannons.
Historian Manuka Henare says the festival allows Maori and Pakeha to come together with their own views about the sacking of Kororareka.