Matariki Nights is a free, public festival running across Wellington's Courtenay Precinct over the Matariki public holiday weekend.
Across five nights, we'll be activating venues, streets and spaces with contemporary Māori artists, visual artists creating works in public view, musicians performing waiata reo Māori across local venues, and kai inspired by the natural world Matariki asks us to reflect on.
The full programme is being developed now. Artists, venues and event details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Matariki is the Māori New Year. It marks the rising of the Matariki star cluster (known internationally as the Pleiades) in the pre-dawn winter sky, signalling a time to reflect on the year that has passed, celebrate the present, and look forward to what's to come.
The three principles of Matariki are woven through everything we do during this time:
Remembrance. Honouring those we have lost since the last rising of Matariki.
Celebrating the present. Gathering together to give thanks for what we have.
Looking to the future. Looking forward to the promise of a new year.
We're inviting venues across the Courtenay Precinct and wider central Wellington to be part of Matariki Nights. There are two ways to participate:
We're programming Māori musicians into venues across the festival — from intimate acoustic sets to larger live music nights. If you have a stage, a sound system, or just a great room, we'd love to talk.
We're inviting cafés, restaurants and bars to create dishes or drinks inspired by Whenua, Moana, Rangi — Land, Sea and Sky. This is a chance to connect kai with the natural world that sits at the heart of Te Ao Māori — to celebrate the ingredients drawn from our land, our waters and our skies, and to honour the seasonal cycles Matariki invites us to reflect on. Participating venues will be promoted across our marketing, listed on the festival programme, and featured on our food trail map across the five nights.