Almost Time To Bring Queen’s Park Alive For Matariki

It’s almost Matariki time which means Tūturu Charitable Trust is getting ready for another action-packed five day event in Queens Park in July.

Funded and supported by local businesses and local and national funding entities, the Tūturu Charitable Trust organised event now in its fifth year, the festival is an accumulation of ideas by local toi māori workshop facilitator and artist Sharne Parkinson.

An array of designs are being brought to life through light installations – through the work of several community groups and organisations.

This year’s theme is Te Hīkoi o Ngā Whetū meaning ‘Journey Through The Stars’ and will expand on the traditional star cluster story, and focus on the story of Te Waka Tapu o Takitimu celestial waka which is up in the sky for 11 months.

“A month before Matariki it sets with the sun and then it returns and flips over on its axis,” she said.

Matariki has always been a time to acknowledge our ancestors who have passed over, and to release their spirits to become stars, and the new story elaborates on that.

It is also a time to reflect, to be thankful to the gods for the harvest, to feast and to share the bounty of the harvest with family and friends.

Sharne said they have experienced it all with the weather in past events – from fog to light rain to frost, but it was all to be celebrated in a beautiful way.

This year a new installation in conjunction with glass artist Phil Newbury will feature glass tiles being suspended in the trees, that will be added to every year.

“Within our tiles we can create shapes, they will move and will reflect light.”

And Sharne said the stage area will be even bigger than previous years after feedback from people saying how amazing the experience was.

Last year 85,000 people attended the Matariki festival, and this year it opens at the end of the school holidays on Friday 14th July, running until Tuesday 18th.

Instead of koha, tickets are available at www.trybooking.co.nz at around $2.50 per person and every night will offer a totally different experience.