Te Matatini Festival returning to original television home

Thursday, 2 February 2023

The biggest kapa haka festival in the world is set to be screened live on free-to-air television.

This year's Te Matatini Festival will be shown on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+, returning to its television home after a break of 20 years.

The festival had originally been screened on TVNZ since its inception in 1972.

Scotty Morrison, and Mātai Smith will lead the presenting line-up, alongside Te Rauhiringa Brown, Tāmati Rimene-Sproat, and Stephanie Fong.

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Chairperson of Te Matatini Selwyn Parata says they're excited to partner with TVNZ to bring kapa haka to new audiences.

“It’s vital we platform Te Matatini so there can be a better collective knowledge of the power and purpose of kapa haka amongst our general population and society.”

This year’s edition is celebrating 50 years of the festival, with 45 teams competing at Eden Park across multiple days in late-February.

Not only will viewers be able to watch the performances live, but they will also be able to use a special translation service to hear translations of all the waiata in English.

On the last day of the festival, “Haka Translate” will be available in five additional languages: Mandarin, Tongan, Samoan, Fijian and Cook Island Māori, via the Matatini Festival app.

Te Matatini takes place from February 22 until February 25.