National Party leader Bill English will spend Waitangi Day in Bluff attending the Ngai Tahu Treaty Festival along with other opposition MPs.

English didn't go to Waitangi last year when he was prime minister because he was denied speaking rights, and decided not to go this year either.

National is instead being represented at Waitangi by a delegation of MPs headed by Steven Joyce.

English said he was instead looking forward to "a positive celebration" in Bluff.

"I am pleased it has been a positive day in Waitangi this year following changes to the official programme, including holding the welcome at the Upper Marae, and that the unnecessary controversies which have overshadowed celebrations in previous years were not present," he said on Monday.

Joyce, who spoke at the Treaty Grounds' Te Whare Runanga upper marae on Monday, faced questions about whether English was "running scared" following years of protest.

He told reporters English was "innovating" by taking the annual celebration to different parts of the country and that it would make the holiday more inclusive.

"(Bill English) is committed, as we are, to having celebrations around the country as well as here," he says.

"I think that's something lots of New Zealanders unable to come to the north would appreciate."

Joyce was highly positive about the relatively peaceful nature of Monday's events, describing it as a much "more unified celebration".

During his speech, he earned laughs in recounting his comparably quieter experience at this year's Waitangi events.

"We all have our own unique experiences at Waitangi, one of mine is probably a bit more unique than most", he said in reference to 2016 when he was hit in the face by a sex toy flung by a protester.

- NZ Newswire