Kai Festival a real ‘beauty’
Rated as one of the top 10 Maori experiences in New Zealand, the Kawhia Traditional Maori Kai Festival is held to mark New Zealand’s national day of celebration each year.
Not an occasion restricted to Maori and their whanau (families) or indeed just for New Zealanders; the Lonely Planet Travel Guide rates the day as a ‘must see’ event that offers overseas visitors a chance to participate in some authentic interaction with Maori.
With around 400 permanent residents, the normally sleepy seaside village of Kawhia, at the western edge of the Central Park region, buzzes with activity as thousands of visitors from around New Zealand along with the occasional overseas tourist gather to savour this unique Maori experience. Last year 10,000 people joined in the fun and camaraderie of the day that is billed as a real celebration of kai (food) from the land and the sea.
Developed to coincide with Waitangi Day (February 6) celebrations held on the first weekend of February each year, the setting for the festival is Omimiti Park on the beautiful Kawhia foreshore. It showcases a wide range of traditional kai (food), traditional Maori crafts and Maori cultural entertainment in the form of kapa haka group performances throughout the day.
The weather is usually kind, the air filled with the smells of dozens of different and delicious Maori dishes and people are in a relaxed family mode. For many the festival is an annual pilgrimage from other parts of New Zealand to re-connect with their spiritual Tainui homeland and whanau.
Among the traditional Maori favourites on offer each year is hangi food (meat and vegetables steamed in an genuine earth oven) and presented in a traditional serving basket (kono), marinated mussels and puha (toroi), fermented corn kanga wai/pirau, smoked fish and smoked eel (pawhara), shark liver pate (koki) that’s a real local delicacy, puha and pork spring rolls, mussel fritters, dried shark, pipi, sea eggs (kina), mussels and fish.
Stalls featuring traditional skills like flax weaving (raranga), cloak making (whatu kakahu), wood carving (whakairo rakau) and tattooing (ta moko) dot the site. They offer the opportunity to watch talented Maori artists and craftspeople at work and gain a real insight into these ancient skills handed down through the generations.
An area allocated outside the actual event usually features entertainment to keep the young and ‘not so young’ busy. If the usual hot weather prevails, grab the chance to try a traditional festival favourite – swimming off the wharf.
The next festival will be held from 9am to 5pm on Saturday, February 6, 2010.
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