Te Matatini has big plans for its 50th anniversary.
The biennial competition for kapa haka rōpū across Aotearoa and Ahitereiria was first won by Waihīrere when it was held in Rotorua in 1972, known then as the New Zealand Polynesian Festival.
The festival went on to become the Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Festival before the late Wharehuia Milroy renamed the competition Te Matatini Kapa Haka.
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