• The 2025 Matariki Festival, themed ‘wai’ (water), will run from June 7 to July 13.
• Ngāti Tamaoho will host, leading cultural activities, water blessings, and storytelling events across Tāmaki Makaurau.
• The festival features exhibitions, performances, and a live concert, concluding with Matariki Festival Day on June 20.

The 2025 Matariki Festival programme has been launched today, with this year’s events reflecting the theme of wai (water) and its deep cultural, environmental and spiritual significance.

Ngāti Tamaoho will again host the festival as iwi manaaki (partner iwi), working alongside the Auckland Council to deliver five weeks of celebrations across Tāmaki Makaurau from June 7 to July 13.

At the heart of this year’s programme is the whakataukī (proverb):

Waitā ki te Mānuka, Waitī ki te Mangatangi, Waipuna ki te Rangi

These lines highlight three stars in the Matariki cluster – Waitā (linked to salt water), Waitī (fresh water), and Waipunarangi (rain) – with each connected to places of significance for Ngāti Tamaoho.

Waitā represents Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa (Manukau Harbour), Waitī connects with the Mangatangi River in the Hunua Ranges, and Waipunarangi is associated with the life-giving rain that nourishes the fertile lands of Pukekohe.

The Matariki star cluster.

Ngāti Tamaoho Trust chair Moroni Edwards says the kaupapa of the festival reflects the values held deeply by the iwi.

“Together and oneness are main aspects of Matariki to us at Ngāti Tamaoho. It is a way to celebrate. It is also a time to remember our loved ones who have passed on.”

The iwi will lead cultural activities, community gatherings, water blessings and storytelling events under the kaupapa Matariki ki te Wai.

Te Taiao manager Edith Tuhimata says the connection between Matariki and wai is embedded in mātauranga passed down over generations.

“There are key ancestral stories about interpreting the stars,” she says. “Each Matariki star helps foretell the year ahead, including the stars which shine for water. Waitā is the star of the sea and ocean, Waitī is the star of fresh water, and Waipunarangi symbolises rain.”

In addition to local events and workshops across the region, a central city programme – Matariki ki te Manawa – will feature exhibitions and performances in partnership with iwi, artists and environmental groups. The festival will close with a live concert showcasing Māori artists to welcome the new year.

One of the flagship events, Te Hui Ahurei o Matariki (Matariki Festival Day) on June 20, will mark the dawn rising of the Matariki star cluster in the northeastern sky – a key moment in the maramataka (Māori lunar calendar).

“It aims to bring people of all ages together to celebrate Matariki,” says Auckland Council Māori Culture and Identity programme lead Melz Huata-Lucas.

Te Hui Ahurei o Matariki will take place at the Auckland Botanic Gardens. Activities will include kapa haka, waiata, mana whenua stories, carving demonstrations, and kite-making.

Ngāti Tamaoho’s role as host is steeped in history. According to the Auckland Council’s Matariki website, the iwi descends from both Te Waiohua and Waikato, with ancestral ties to some of the earliest peoples of Tāmaki Makaurau, including Te Tini o Toi, Ngā Oho, and Ngā Iwi.

Their traditional rohe (lands) stretch from Ihumātao and Papakura across to Pukekohe, Mangatangi and Maramarua. They are closely connected to Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa (Manukau Harbour) and the Waikato River.

Once labelled rebels and forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands in 1863, Ngāti Tamaoho spent decades rebuilding their presence and pursuing justice. Their settlement with the Crown was finalised in 2017 with a formal apology for historical breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Toi Katipa says the opportunity to host the Matariki Festival again is an honour.

“Ngāti Tamaoho is proud to hold the mana of Matariki this festival season. We are still learning about that aspect of ourselves. It is beautiful, nevertheless, to feel the essence of the occasion and the connection to the stars.”

The full programme is available at matarikifestival.org.nz from today.

Matariki Festival is supported by media partners flava and the New Zealand Herald.