We always commemorate actual Waitangi Day in special ways because, in Aotearoa, and in our world, every day is Waitangi Day.
This year (2024) we again celebrated Waitangi Day ‘out west’ at Parr’s Park at Waitangi@Waititi, a fantastic event organised by Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust and with a cast of thousands.
We took 35,000+ others with us (NZ Herald estimate, others say as many as 50,000) and we all had a magnificent day.
The weather rocked it all day and everything went perfectly.
As most of my friends know, organising big cultural and music events like this is what I did for a living for many years. If I’d created this one, I’d have been beyond proud, it was wonderful.
I’m in a wheelchair now so I’m a bit of a problem for my whānau, pushing the old girl but never moaning. They’re outstanding examples of true caring. The Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust welcome – and the organisation – was magic and made everything possible and easy.
Talent was wall to wall – Tiki Taane, Katchafire, IllumiNgāti, Kora, The Black Seeds, Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos, Sons of Zion, Rutherford High School Kapa Haka, Tomorrow People, and Aaradnha, not to mention sublime food and dozens of quality stalls.
Great to hear K’lee and Storme from Mai Fm doing the continuity brilliantly with a few words from Trust Chair John Tamihere and from the Te Pāti Māori MP for Tāmaki Makaurau Takutai Tarsh Kemp inserted as appropriate. Absolutely the perfect way to remember why we commemorate this significant day and why we allow ourselves a few moments to celebrate it as well – and on the late ‘Uncle’ Bob Marley’s 79th birthday (a reminder to continue to ‘stand up, fight back’ if ever there was one.
dykiegirl 