Matariki Puanga

The celebration of Matariki Puanga, the Māori New Year, dates back over 700 years. We celebrate Matariki with spectacular free, whānau-friendly events each year.

Matariki Ahi Kā memorial projection

Honour a loved one who has passed away by providing their name and a message to display on our memorial projection.

What's on this page

Matariki Ahi Kā event Memorial projection call out Mana Moana Pōneke Other Matariki events About Matariki Puanga Matariki Puanga traditions in our region

People around a firepit during Matariki celebrations.

Matariki Ahi Kā

We invite you to celebrate the Māori New Year in a uniquely Wellington way.

Honour our culture and history, with a big, bold, immersive Wellington Waterfront walk-through journey including fire, projections, performances, and a special ceremony each night honouring those who have passed away. Share kai with friends and whānau each evening at our kai courts.

Visit this page late May for programme information.

Food vendor registrations have now closed.

Matariki Ahi Kā – memorial projection call-out

The rising of Puanga and the Matariki star cluster is a time to reflect on the past and remember our loved ones who have passed away, celebrate the present, and prepare for the new year ahead.

As part of our Matariki Ahi Kā event, we will honour people who have passed away since last Matariki by displaying their names and a message on a memorial projection on the side of Te Papa (view on Google Maps).

If you’d like to put forward the name of a loved one with a message for inclusion in the projection, please complete the online form before Saturday 31 May 2025:

Submit a name for the memorial projection

Mana Moana water screen projection by Storybox.

Mana Moana Pōneke

Āhea | When 6pm–9pm, 7–8 June, 14–15 June, 19–22 June
Ki hea | Where Whairepo Lagoon | View on Google Maps
Te utu | Cost Free

In the lead-up to Matariki Ahi Kā and during the long weekend, enjoy Mana Moana Pōneke, a series of indigenous short films about our ocean, projected on a water screen.

Watch as millions of water droplets fall and catch the light, creating the illusion of images appearing from the darkness and floating on the water. Mana Moana Pōneke is a collaboration between Māori and Pasifika musicians, artists, writers, and choreographers.

Other Matariki events

Check out other Matariki events happening around the city.

About Matariki Puanga

The rising of Puanga (also known as the star Rigel in Orion) and the Matariki star cluster (Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters) mark the Māori New Year and is a time to reflect on our loved ones who have passed and to prepare for the New Year, as we enter the colder months. 

Puanga is a single whetū (star). It’s not part of the Matariki cluster but appears in the evening sky shortly before Matariki rises each year. Puanga rises higher in the sky than Matariki so it’s recognised by iwi and hapū that can’t see Matariki from their location. 

 Matariki Puanga celebrates our unique location in Te Upoko-o-te-ika. The shape of the landscape means that in some areas only Puanga can be seen, like in Waiwhetū in Lower Hutt, home to Te Āti Awa ki Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui. But on the west coast in Porirua, within the boundaries of Ngāti Toa,  Matariki is clearly visible. 

Being a region surrounded by hills and mountain ranges, there are many vantage points where both are visible – here in Te Upoko-o-te-ika we have something special. This gives us the opportunity to celebrate both events in our region.

Puanga and Matariki is a time to get together, to restore faith and hope for the future, to celebrate whanaungatanga (kinship), to be with others, to share stories and kai, and plan to work towards a sustainable future.

Learn more about Matariki Puanga

Matariki Puanga traditions in our region

He mihi nā te mana whenua o Te Upoko-o-te-Ika - an introduction from our mana whenua

Tērā Puanga ka rewa i te pae
Nau mai, hara mai ngā hua o te tau
Tākiri ko te ata, ka pua te ata
Korihi te manu tino awatea
Ko te tangi mai o te kō, kō korimako
i te atatū, tū ka takatū ki te ao mārama Tēnei
te raukura, tēnei te rauhuia, tēnā koutou
katoa

Behold the rise of Rigel.
Welcome the fruits of the new year.
As dawn strikes, morning blooms
The early bird calls.
It is the call of the bellbird
After sun rise, prepared for the world of light.
Here is the plume of the Toroa, here is the
feather of the Huia. Greetings to you all

In the last few years, Aotearoa New Zealand has embraced the celebration of Matariki, the Māori New Year. Riding the wave of interest from all walks of life, as mana whenua, we’d like to share some of the whakaaro (thinking) about the authentic Matariki tradition in Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui, and about the lesser-known single star Puanga.

Ngāti Toa and Te Āti Awa ki te Upoko o te Ika a Māui, alongside Wellington city and regional councils, have come together in acknowledgment of the shared significance of Matariki and Puanga.

We invite you and your whānau, iwi and communities to share in our knowledge and tikanga and explore the ways that we can all celebrate and uplift Matariki and Puanga this year.

Kura Moeahu – Tiamana (Chairman), Te Rūnanganui o Te Āti Awa ki te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui
Dr Te Taku Parai – Pou Tikanga, Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira