What’s on the Māori calendar in the run up to Matariki?

Rātana, Waitangi and major law changes are coming up on the near horizon to kick-off the election year, but what else is there to look forward to? As people return from their summer holidays, we take a look at what’s ahead on the Māori calendar – six months out from Matariki.

Tomorrow will mark the start of Rātana celebrations.

The birthday celebrations of Rātana Church founder, Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, is an annual multi-day event that takes place at Rātana Pā, located 20 km south of Whanganui. The event culminates on Sunday January 25, Rātana’s birthday, and festivities throughout the week include concerts, kapa haka, sports and activities, as well as worship.

But it’s also seen as the unofficial start to the political year with Parliament returning on Tuesday, January 27.

The Church has traditional ties to the Labour Party but in modern times has welcomed all political parties to the celebrations. Both Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Opposition leader Chris Hipkins are expected to visit on Friday.

Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the Māori Queen, will also attend, as will the new paramount chief of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Ariki Te Rangimaheu Te Heuheu Tukino IX. It will be his first visit to the pā since taking up the mantle of ariki in September on the death of his father, the late Ariki Sir Tumu Te Heuheu.

Te Pāti Māori ended 2025 with one expelled member and another reinstated after months of infighting.

They face a court hearing into whether the expulsion of Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi was unlawful. This will take place on the week of Waitangi.

The fallout saw a major drop in support for the party from 7% in 2024 to 1% a year later – according to last month’s 1News Verian poll. They will want to resolve the matter quickly so they can focus on trying to regain the support they have lost before the election.

Meanwhile, the party’s youngest MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke is expected to make a joint announcement with Green MP Tamatha Paul the same week.

Last year the pair teased the announcement on social media with a video showing snippets of their debate during the Electoral Amendment Bill alongside the caption: “So often, we walk into room where we are the only ones – young, waahine, & Maaori – in spaces never built with us in mind. Simple truth: systems are man-made, and they can be rebuilt – for better tomorrow together and for real inclusion for all.”

Speaking of the Greens and wahine Māori, former Te Pāti Māori lawyer Tania Waikato has revealed she will be standing for the Green Party this election.

You can expect to see MPs attend Waitangi commemorations around the country in February, but it’s too early to say who will make the pilgrimage to the Treaty Grounds.

Many of the same political players who turn up at Rātana will likely appear again in the north, but it’s unclear whether the Prime Minister will make the trek having said he enjoyed visiting Ngāi Tahu in 2025 and valued getting “a perspective beyond just Waitangi".

The theme for this year’s event at the Treaty Grounds is manaakitanga (hospitality) and “mō tatou, mā tātou” (by all of us, for all of us).

Te Arikinui and the Kiingitanga will attend as will iwi leaders from around the country for the annual National Iwi Chairs Forum from February 2-4.

The competitive kapa haka season will kick off in February with the first of 13 regional competitions taking place in the lead up to Te Matatini 2027.

Tākitimu and Mātaatua will stage their events on February 13-14 in Waipukurau, Hawke’s Bay, and February 27-28 in Whakatāne.

The rest will fall in the next four months heading into Matariki:

Kapa haka is experiencing an exponential growth in popularity. Last year, New Plymouth hosted the largest national Te Matatini competition to date with a record 55 qualifying teams that led to the festival extending from four days to five. Over 60,000 people attended the week-long event, and live online audiences reached nearly half a million.

The growth also meant hosting rights for 2027 were pulled from Te Tauihu at the top of the South Island and given to Tainui in the Waikato region.

With 2026 being an election year, kapa haka will provide a welcome reprieve from mainstream headlines for some. Those in the know will understand that haka groups express the views of their people through the medium of kapa haka, and the competitions will serve as a barometer on where Māori views lie on the issues that matter.

In a tradition that dates back to the 1880s, Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po and the Kiingitanga will visit 30 marae affiliated with the movement in a series of annual poukai visits.

The first poukai was established by the second Māori monarch, King Tāwhiao, in 1885. They were gatherings focused around feeding the people and supporting the widowed, the destitute and the bereaved (te pouaru, te rawakore, me te whānau pani). These sentiments are the foundation of poukai in modern times, providing an opportunity for the Kiingitanga to engage with their people directly, strengthen relational bonds and maintain the support base.

Other marae outside of the Waikato region have been known to host poukai. Most recently, Kokohinau Marae in Te Teko, Bay of Plenty, welcomed the Kiingitanga over the weekend, marking 63 years since King Korokī first visited as part of a poukai circuit in recognition of the bond between the Kiingitanga and the Ringatū faith.

After a months-long campaign, East Coast-based iwi Te Aitanga a Mahaki has also made a successful bid to host a poukai outside of the Waikato region which will take place on November 14.

The next poukai will be held on February 7, hosted by Taniwha Marae in Waerenga.

This year, Ngāti Whātua is hosting the national Matariki 2026 celebrations. The theme is Matariki Herenga Waka – For Everyone, which pays homage to the tribe’s waka traditions and Auckland’s reputation as the city of sails.

Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith said the theme is about people coming together to celebrate in Auckland or “wherever they may be in New Zealand”.

“The Māori New Year is a time of reflection, celebration and preparation. It is a time to remember loved ones, come together with whānau to give thanks to what we have and look forward to the promise of a new year.

“While the theme changes from year to year the values of reflection, celebration and preparation remain the same.”