Competition
Check out our programme of activity and tell us how you are going to celebrate Matariki and be in to win one of four Matariki Festival packs. Each pack includes two tickets to Native Noise , two Matariki calendars and traditional planting seeds.
It's easy to enter, simply email us at matariki@aucklandcity.govt.nz and tell us how you will celebrate Matariki this year to go into the draw. The draw will be made at random each week on 6, 13, 20 and 27 June 2008. Winners will be notified by email the next day and winners posted on the website.
Prize Draw three - 20 June 2008
The winner of the second Matariki Festival pack is Chantelle Dillon
with the following entry
Hey just writing to let you know what my whanau and I are doing to celebrate Matariki!!!
My tamariki are the ones that have came up with this idea!! They want to make harakeke putiputi (flax flowers) and give them to our local community as a gift and to celebrate Matariki!!!
Hope you like their idea!!!
Prize Draw two - 13 June 2008
The winner of the second Matariki Festival pack is Amanda Montgomerie
with the following entry.
My name is Amanda Montgomerie, I am a student at Auckland University. The way I am celebrating Matariki this year is through the sharing of knowledge. This is why: For the first time a couple of months ago I was able to visit my whanau's Marae in Dargaville. I had not been able to visit previously as I grew up in Christchurch (I'm now based in Auckland), and it is a long distance between there and Dargaville. The night before I left for my trip, my Grandad rung me from Christchurch and said to me "write down everything you learn so you can share it with your cousins"-he wanted me to be able to share what I learnt with my younger cousins who are still in Christchurch, and have not yet been able to visit Dargaville. I was so inspired by the Wharenui of our Marae-Te Houhanga- as it is full of beautiful kowhaiwhai and Tukutuku panels, and has a wall of pictures of our Tangata Whenua, that I decided to create a book to record my experiences of the visit, and the stories about the whakapapa, that I was lucky enough to have told to me by the Kaitiaki of the marae. I have been distributing copies of the book I made over the Matariki Festival period, not only to my cousins and the rest of my whanau, but to my friends at Uni aswell, to highlight the importance of being able to continously share knowledge about our culture, for the benefit of future generations. Because celebrating our culture and its traditions, so we have
the knowledge for the future, is what I believe Matariki is about.
Prize Draw one - 6 June 2008
The winner of the first Matariki Pack is Tara Toru from Westmere
School with the following entry.
Since 2005 we have celebrated Matariki through having a disco at our kura "Dancing Under the Stars and with the stars" on a wintery Friday night in June 6-00pm to 8-00pm.
This has now become an annual affair, where the entire Westmere School Community attend and celebrate with the tangata whenua of the kura, Nga Uri O Nga Iwi. Children come dressed as nga whetu, maori warrior or what ever they feel like dressing up in. Each year we invite Maori performing artists, Maori hip hop groups, Maori TV personality, Maori DJ, Maori sporting stars, we sell hangi and other kai, childrens drinks and adult beverages.
We turn our supertop area into a starry night with fairy lights etc We use this night as our major fundraiser for Marae trips. Advertising, poster and sale of tickets are done only through our school as the number we expect on the night is enough to cope with.This year our theme is "Aotearoa" anything Maori anything Kiwiana Friday 27 June 6-00 to 8-00, put this in your diary, you are most welcome to attend, tickets are $5-00 under fives free. Be early book by emailing the writer. In the words of our tamariki "Matariki Disco at
