Maori New Year
There are actually a lot of events that are celebrated every year in New Zealand. One of the important key feature events in the Maori calendar is the Matariki Festival. In other words, Matariki Festival refers to the celebration of Maori New Year. It is held yearly from 4 June to 4 July. The word Matariki is the Maori name for the group of stars known as the Pleiades star cluster/The Seven Sisters.
To the Maori, They believe that New Year signalled a time for the local residents to connect together and at the same time giving thanks back to the land, sea and sky. This would be the time whereby local communities come together to bid farewell to those who had passed away and recognise that the year has gone by. It is also a time to remind them that a new year has began and it’s time to for them to welcome the new born that will be coming to join them in this world. The local Maori could make use of the of the Matariki festival to share kai, rituals, entertainment, hospitality and learning. Matariki were once stopped in the 1940s because of the decline in the Maori population and it became unpopular.
In 2000, it revived with just a few people celebrating it. But it has grown over the years and now a few thousands celebrating this event together and this marks the re-born of the culture again.
REAL New Zealand Festival
The REAL New Zealand Festival is another focus of their calendar of events in New Zealand It is a nationwide celebration event that showcase the real arts, heritage, culture, entertainment, business, food and wine of New Zealand. It was held from 9 September to 23 October this year to complement the Rugby World Cup schedule. This festival allows the local to experience the more authentic New Zealand in varies way and at the same time provide a opportunity for the tourists to experience the authentic New Zealand and from this learn more about the country too.
