Te Matatini: Hundreds of unsung heroes help behind the scenes

Every Te Matatini festival the call goes out for volunteers, Te Hāpai Ō, and this year’s event had no trouble, with people eager to put their hands up.

Te Hāpai Ō leading manager Rāhera Herewini- Mulligan says she is excited to put on such a festival after three years of waiting.

“If you come here you will see Te Hāpai Ō first at the gates and hear the Māori language being spoken. And you will know you have arrived at Te Matatini,” Herewini- Mulligan says.

There are close to 400 volunteers, from young people to adults, helping at Te Matatini. Some are on gates letting people in and out to their correct seats, sharing information with visitors, picking up rubbish; others are drivers on buggies for kaumātua pickups and drop-offs, and some are watering trees around the venue.

The volunteers have come from all parts of Aotearoa.

Last week there were floods in Te Tairaawhiti, Kahungunu, and Te Taitokerau. “But volunteers still wanted to come and help the event first, uplift the event second, and care for the multitudes that have arrived third,” Herewini- Mulligan says.

Te Mania Koia, from Te Aupōuri, was helping with enquiries and ushering people to their seats.

“I am a usher support for the fan zone, I help allocate whānau into their seats and make sure they have a good time,” Koia says.

Work colleague Matt Hew Max, from Samoa and the Cook Islands, took the opportunity to be a volunteer so he could see Te Matatini firsthand and support an awesome kaupapa.

“Putting in mahi here doesn’t even feel like mahi,” Hew Max says.

This is the first Te Matatini for Merle Takimoana, from Ngāti Maniapoto. She is the gatekeeper, giving visitors access to seating in front of the main performance stage. Everyone who walked through her gate heard her before they saw her and she spoke Māori which resonated among the visitors.

“What I love about being a volunteer is meeting other whānau from other rohe and watching the other rohe kapa haka, it’s all about kapa haka,” Takimoana says.

Tamahana Leaf, from Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahungunu, has whānau badly impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle last week and yet still made the choice to come to help at Te Matatini. He is driving one of the buggies to help kaumātua get around the venue at Eden Park- Ngā Ana Wai.

“I love conversing in te reo Māori with our kuia and koroua. Te Matatini is a wonderful event for all,” Leaf says.

And Mere Komene, from Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Tainui, was one of Leaf’s passengers who was happy to catch a ride for her party of kaumātua as they had been lost at the big venue for over an hour.

“Rawe Te Hāpai Ō, we had been lost for some time now and if it wasn’t for them we would still be lost.”

Herewini-Mulligan hopes that when people leave Te Matatini after the finals on Saturday they will say: “Wow, that was one amazing event”.