Light installations to usher in Matariki for Aucklanders

Auckland's city centre will see its largest-scale Matariki lighting installations ever this month.

Matariki ki te Manawa (at the heart), a series of immersive experiences and art celebrating te ao Māori, supported by the Auckland Council, will take place across the city centre in the lead-up to Matariki on 28 June.

Tūrama will return, lighting up Queen Street and Aotea Square from 9 June until August and the crochet-inspired neon artworks, Taurima, can be seen above Elliott Street from 12 June.

Māori artists, including contemporary jazz musician Allanna Goldsmith (Ngāti Porou and Ngāi Tai), will perform live music and waiata as part of a pop-up series on Queen Street and Elliott Street, He Wai.

Karangahape Road will be closed off for a streetside Matariki celebration Karanga-a-Hape on 27 June.

First presented in Wellington by artists Claire O'Loughlin and Marcus McShane, an interactive video installation, Mihi, will allow people to thank those who are important to them by adding their name to a huge, animated scroll projected onto Auckland Town Hall.

Mihi will be displayed from 28-30 June from 6pm to 10pm.

The Vector lights on the Auckland Harbour Bridge will also be switched on every Friday and Saturday, starting this week, from 6pm until midnight throughout June.

These activities and many more span multiple days and some will be live until September.

The streetscapes are a part of this year's [matarikifestival.org.nz Matariki Festival] in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Matariki is the name for the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades. When it rises in the north-eastern skies in late May or early June, it marks the start of the Māori new year. This year, the Matariki star cluster rising is expected to be visible at dawn by 29 June.

Matariki became an official public holiday in 2021 fulfilling a pre-election promise made by the-then Labour government.