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Since the first celebrations of Waitangi Day in Te Anau in 2018, featuring a re-enactment of Captain Cook's first arrival to New Zealand near Gisborne, which attracted a large crowd and impressed both visitors and locals alike, the event has grown from strength to strength.

In 2021, the Te Anau Waitangi Charitable Trust was formed, with five trustees and 4 Trust Board Support Officers, who transformed the event from a 1-day celebration to a multi-day festival that celebrates Māoritanga in Southland.

Trust chairman Toni Waiwiri said the Waitangi commemorations, which would be run over 10 days, would focus on diversifying and engaging with people on a more personal level rather than one big headline event on Waitangi Day.

"This change was necessary in 2022 when we organised many smaller events to meet the COVID-19 restrictions rather than the big concert at Lions Park."

"Now, we seem to have grown into a festival that does both. Also, it’s important to acknowledge that we are a flax-roots community-led festival. Our Trust works alongside formal commemorations across Murihiku Southland,” Waiwiri, said.

Organising a big festival like this involves a lot of work. Waiwiri says that apart from the trustees and Trust supporters, help comes from a big team of volunteers and partners with whom the Trust co-hosts events.

“Each year, Te Anau Waitangi Charitable Trust applies for funding from various community, regional, philanthropic and national grant schemes."

"We also do a small amount of fundraising throughout the year. Applying for funding is a lot of work, but we do this because it’s important that all our events remain free for the community and that our performers, speakers and other guests are treated professionally and paid properly."

“Undoubtedly, the funding landscape across the motu has significantly altered in the last 12 to 18 months, with less money available. As well as some significant grants, we have received generous in-kind support from our partners, enabling our festival programme to be another stand out on the event calendar for Fiordland,” the Trust chairman says.

This year’s celebrations will kick off with the opening of the annual Te Anau Waitangi Festival Multimedia Arts Exhibition ‘Taonga tuku iho / Treasures of our Heritage’ on Thursday, January 30 7 pm at the Arts Hub Te Anau, co-hosted with the Fiordland Arts Charitable Trust.

“Alongside our fantastic festival partners Ngā Herenga Waka Kapa Haka, Te Anau School’s kapa haka group will perform for the first time which we are very excited about – it’s wonderful to see the green shoots of kapa haka taking off within our community. ‘Te Tiriti-Ruapuke, June 1840 Exhibition’ is a brand-new exhibition curated especially for Southlanders by Te Kupeka Tiaki Taoka | Southern Regional Collections Trust with the support of the four Murihiku Papatipu Rūnanga,” Waiwiri said.

Amongst the many events open to the public, one of the highlights of Waitangi Day 2025 commemorations will be an opportunity to meet a Ngāi Tahu writer, Nic Low, author of the best-selling book Uprising: Walking the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Low will give two talks - on Thursday, 6 February (Waitangi Day), at 6 pm at the FNP Visitors Centre, and for younger audiences, on Friday, 7 February, at 1:30 pm at the Fiordland College Gymnasium.

Other highlights include a concert at Te Anau’s Lions Park on Saturday, 8 February, 11 am - 3 pm, featuring live entertainment from Ngā Herenga Waka (Waihōpai Invercargill), Te Anau School Kapa Haka, music from Top of the Hour (Ōtepoti Dunedin), Niccolo Piccolo (Pōneke Wellington), plus heaps of kai/food including hāngi, and for the tamariki a giant sandpit and water slide.

A special treat for those who book in time will be a historic lake cruise on board the MV Luminosa on Lake Te Anau to Aurora Caves on Sunday, 9 February, from 8 am – 10-45 am, courtesy of RealNZ. It includes a journey into the glowworm caves, a live performance on board by The Mitchell Twins, and a talk at the Cavern by Nic Low.