Thousands of te reo learners are gathering in Hawke's Bay for the second year of Aotearoa's national Māori language festival Toitū te Reo.
Described as a two-day "celebration, inspiration, education, and activation of the language and culture", it is being hosted in Heretaunga Hastings on Thursday and Friday.
The audience has the chance to hear from those still learning te reo, such as broadcasters Mike McRoberts and Moana Maniapoto while rubbing shoulders with long-time advocates such as Sir Tīmoti Kāretu.
The festival is divided into two zones: Rangimamao, entirely in te reo Māori and Pūmotomoto, entirely in English.
Part of Hastings Street North is also cordoned off for kai stalls, Māori businesses and musical performances.
Festival founder and director Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod said it was pleasing to see people enjoying themselves and hearing the language being used.
Having two zones made this a welcoming space so people could participate regardless of the level of language, because even non-speakers play a huge part in championing the language, he said.
"The future of the language rests with everyone, regardless of your level of proficiency, and language champions come in all shapes and sizes and some of those people that championed the language back in the initial stages of the renaissance in the 70s weren't speakers of the language but they were prepared to die for the language."
MacLeod said one of the themes of Toitū te Reo was "te Tiro Whakaroto what can we do?"
"Toitū te Reo is about what we can do. And what we can do is look to ourselves, we can be resolute, we can be steadfast and we can put a stake in the ground and have an unwavering commitment to the language – regardless of policy, rhetoric, social media, newspapers, because like anything the tide will ebb and flow."
Te reo advocate Leon Blake was leading a session on the evergreen topic of the A and O categories of te reo, two small letters that can be a big hōhā for learners.
"E rongo ana e rere haere ana i waenganui i te iwi kua tae mai nei, nō reira kua tino koa kua tino tau hoki te mauri."
(I'm hearing the language flow freely among all the people who have arrived today, so I'm feeling very happy and settled.)
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