Children gather to mark Matariki

Cousins (from right) Abbigail Hutt (4) and Skye Lepage (5) perform with the John Street Waimate and Waimate Mobile Kindergartens at the Matariki Festival in Waimate yesterday to celebrate the Maori new year.

About 100 children from preschool to high-school age, including a team from Waitaki Boys' High School who went to the Waimate festival because there was no Matariki celebration in Oamaru, spent the morning in the Waimate High School hall performing.

They included country primary schools and the Waimate Mobile Kindergarten.

At noon, the Waihao runanga produced a hangi-style lunch using its kai cooker.

Opening what is the third festival, Waimate Mayor Craig Rowley said he was proud to see the community come together to celebrate a major event, the beginning of a new life cycle celebrated as the traditional Matariki.