Takitimu Festival / Waiata Maori Awards (Maori Music Awards) 2011

Invitations are being sent out for the Pacific’s biggest reunion of indigenous people and New Zealand’s premier Maori music event.

The International Takitimu Festival and the annual National Waiata Maori Awards (Maori Music Awards) will be held in Hawke’s Bay in September.

The two events will be part of the the Real New Zealand Festival and Hawke’s Bay’s Havingaball Festival during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Takitimu Festival 2011 - September 14 to 18.

The Takitimu Festival draws upon iwi and Pacific nations affiliated to the Takitimu waka, which migrated from the Pacific to Aotearoa over 500 years ago.

Takitimu is the ancestral waka of Ngati Kahu (Northland), Ngati Ranginui (Tauranga/Bay of Plenty Region), Te Tairawhiti (East Coast tribes), Ngati Kahungunu (Hawke’s Bay to Wairarapa) and Ngai Tahu (South Island).

The festival was presented for the first time in 2008 at the Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds in Hastings, showcasing a variety of mucial performances, art exhibitions, wananga, theatre, food stalls, speakers and workshops from each of the Pacific nations and iwi connected to the Takitimu waka.

The festival returns to Hastings but this year will be held at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House, from September 14 to 16.

It will proceed the Waiata Maori Awards which will also be held at the opera house, from September 7 to 8.

Executive director of both events Tama Huata says he expects Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii and Fiji to confirm their involved in the Takitimu Festival.

Prior to Christmas Mr Huata had visited some of the Pacific nations to guage their interest and to hear what each country wanted to achieve at the festival.

“Rarotonga and Tahiti have confirmed they will be bringing about 100 people each to the festival. We’ve asked them to bring their A-team, in terms of their culture, their history, their arts and their economic aspirations,” Mr Huata said.

One of the major events at the festival will be an indegenous peoples business conference run over three days.

“We have invited people from the Pacific and those iwi connected to the Takitimu waka to bring their business people to speak at the conference,” Mr Huata said.

“I don’t want the conference just to be a talk fest, I want people there to do business, to make connections and to open up business opportunies within our Takitimu network.”

Tourism and hospitality along with land development and the fisheries industry are likely to be some of the key topics at the conference.

The inaugural festival attracted more than 10,000 people with a huge range of musical performers, as well as workshops and activities showcasing the uniqueness of each nation, whether it be through history, food, music art or craft.

A full programme of Takitimu Festival events is likely to be finalised at the end of February.

Rehearsals for a major powhiri have begun to prepare an official welcome for iwi and Pacific nations arrival at the festival. The powhiri will be held at the new Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park in Hastings.

“We have already started to rehearse out waiata and haka. We’ve got a team speaking with our high schools in Hawke’s Bay to see who would like to be involved in the powhiri, we’re starting with Heretaunga (Hastings) schools because they are the host,” Mr Huata says.

“I anticipate the powhiri being quite a spectacle, an acknowledgement of the kinship which connects us all to the Takitimu waka.

Waiata Maori Awards (Maori Music Awards) - September 7 to 8

The “word has gone out” to artists to submit their nominations for this year’s Waiata Maori Awards, Mr Huata said. The award night will be recorded by Maori Television for broadcast on its network in Septemebr while Radio Kahungunu, based in Hastings, will broadcast the awards night live, offering it to the iwi station network across the country.

Well-known television producer Robert Hagen will be back for his third stint working on the music awards.

Popular Maori singer Maisey Rika took home four of the eight major gongs at the 2010 awards while other winners included 1814, Young Sid and Stan Walker.

“We hope by July we will have the finalists selected for 2011,” Mr Huata said.

For the first time an indigenous performance group from Canada will feature at the music awards and stay on to be part of the Takitimu Festival the following week.

“I was presenting lecturers at Trent University in Canada a few years ago when I was invited to Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. I asked if they were interested in forming and alliance and they jumped at the opportunity,” Mr Huata said.

Since then Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre, based in Hastings, had performed at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards twice.

“The Canadian first nations performance group is keen to perform at the Maori music awards this year, their goal is to bring up to 50 people for the music awards and for the Takitimu Festival,” Mr Huata said.

A special request had already been lodged for when the Canadians arrive in New Zealand later this year.

“It just so happens the Candadian rugby team will be playing two games in Hawke’s Bay during the Rugby World Cup and they’ve asked if thy can go to the matches.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to be able to come here, perform and maybe gtet to watch there national rugby team.”

A full programme of performers, workshops and activities assoicated with the music awards is expected to be completed by the end of February.