Hawke’s Bay spent the week celebrating Matariki with a full calendar of events, but it was Napier’s Matariki Mahuika beach fire gathering on Marine Parade that drew the biggest crowd — organisers estimate more than 10,000 people took part, once again cementing it as the region’s signature Matariki tradition.
Now in its fourth year, Matariki Mahuika began after Cyclone Gabrielle left the Napier shoreline coated in driftwood. What started as an impromptu DIY beach fire gathering has grown into a community-wide celebration, with fires this year dotted along the coast from Cape Kidnappers to Nūhaka over the long Matariki weekend. This year, for the first time, Napier City Council formally adopted it as the city’s main Matariki event.
The event is organised by Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc, with Mana Ahuriri Trust and Napier City Council partnering this year. Council contributed an installation of nine Matariki stars and suspended gas flames above the stage, while Tumu Timbers and Pan Pac Forest Products donated untreated pine off-cuts — left in mounds near the Spirit of Napier statue — so people no longer needed to scavenge dry driftwood or risk burning pallets and treated wood.
From 4pm on Saturday, hundreds of fires sprang up along the boardwalk from the National Aquarium to Kinross White Street. A stage decorated with the Matariki star cluster hosted kapa haka performances and storytelling, a night market brought 24 food trucks, and fire artists worked the crowd. One of the night’s most-loved rituals, the Waka Maimai Aroha Procession, saw people write remembrance and healing messages on lanterns, floated in batches at 7pm and 8pm before being burned so their messages could rise as smoke to the stars.
Neill Gordon, who helped found the event and continues to co-organise it, said the spirit of manaakitanga on the beach went beyond anything he’d seen elsewhere. “I’ve been to festivals with a great atmosphere where you know anyone would help you out if you asked, but never to an event where it’s the norm for strangers to be asking and offering to help each other, sharing their kindling, their marshmallows and matches, handing round hot drinks. The vibe at Mahuika isn’t just special, it’s extraordinary. Everyone on the beach is whānau at Mahuika.”
Gordon said the key demographic who responded most strongly to Mahuika were grandmothers — an older generation with memories of sitting around fires with their own parents and grandparents, passing the tradition on to a younger generation. Fire and Emergency New Zealand supported the event throughout, and Gordon described the night as “entirely trouble-free,” helped by a light offshore breeze that carried smoke out to sea and a brief shower that passed before people needed their coats.
Ngāti Kahungunu events manager Te Rangi Huata summed up the kaupapa: “Matariki Mahuika is about sharing warmth — friends and whānau coming together, caring for the beach and each other.” He noted holding the event on a single midwinter night also avoids the period when rare shore-nesting birds return to the coastline, reflecting the event’s commitment to kaitiakitanga.
Mana Ahuriri Trust’s involvement in Matariki Mahuika went well beyond the night itself. As one of this year’s official partners alongside Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc and Napier City Council, the Trust helped shape an event that, for the first time, offered free firewood to keep beachgoers from burning pallets or treated timber.
The Trust’s role continued the following morning. Mana Ahuriri Trust and Napier City Council collaborated to run a Matariki beach clean-up on Sunday, with Mana Ahuriri leading the effort on Marine Parade alongside Sustainable HB. More than 20 volunteers turned out from 9am at the National Aquarium car park, including international students from Japan and Brazil, to gather rubbish bags and gloves supplied with support from Napier City Council, Sustainable HB and Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc.
The result reflected well on the crowd: just six rubbish bags and a few metal items were collected in total, and organisers noted most of what was picked up had accumulated on the beach before Saturday’s event, not during it. “It was great that people heeded the message to take any rubbish home with them,” Sustainable HB and Mana Ahuriri Trust said in a joint post thanking volunteers and Napier City Council for taking the rubbish away. Volunteers were shouted kai afterwards as thanks for their efforts — a small gesture capping off an event Mana Ahuriri framed as giving “aroha to taiao” at a time of celebrating the year gone by and the new year arriving.
Matariki Mahuika was the centrepiece, but far from the only event. At 6am on Wednesday, a crowd gathered near the National Aquarium for Matariki – Whangai I Te Hautapu Hau Ahi, a dawn ceremony organised by Ngāti Kahungunu to welcome the Matariki New Year. The ceremony remembered those who had died, with stories, prayers and the names of loved ones called out as hāngī steam was offered to the star cluster as the sun rose over the Pacific.
Wednesday night brought Waiata at Waiaroha in Hastings, featuring local performers Makayla, Talitha Blake, Hawke’s Bay Soul Choir and Kahurangi Māori Dance Company. On Thursday, Hastings’ Civic Square hosted the first-ever Tirama Kahawai illuminated parade, blending art, storytelling, food and light — including glowing orbs designed by David Trubridge, community-built lanterns and a 5-metre glowing sculpture, Te Wheke Harikoa (The Happy Octopus), alongside kapa haka and storytelling from Pereri King.
Friday, the national Matariki public holiday, saw Kai Hau Kai Matariki at Hawke’s Bay Racecourse in Hastings — an afternoon and evening of kai, entertainment and fireworks, plus a market showcasing Māori food, craftsmanship and art, including pounamu and raranga weaving.
By all accounts, the week was warmly received across the region: big crowds, fine weather, no major incidents, and, in the words of organisers, a spirit of manaakitanga that left as strong an impression as the bonfires and lanterns themselves.
