Learn a little Te Reo M¯aori, try a moko or virtual reality po¯whiri at Womad
Ma¯ori culture is spreading its wings at Womad – in a big way.
At Te Paepae, near the chimney in Brooklands Park, festival goers can experience a virtual po¯ whiri, become adorned with a temporary moko, enjoy glow poi, waiata and haka, all provided by Te Wa¯ nanga o Aotearoa.
Even the Womad app has a new ‘‘teach me te reo’’ section, so people can learn to pronounce commonly used Ma¯ ori words correctly, including Taranaki and Waikato dialect options.
Tui Ora is adding to Womad’s cultural experience by enabling people to chill out in a manaaki (hospitality) lounge, have a cuppa with a kauma¯tua to ask about Taranaki tikanga (protocols), and even play giant Jenga. In the day, the lounge is for all and, at night, it becomes a youth hangout with free kai.
To keep an eye on the festival’s younger crowd, Tui Ora is providing 15 Kaitiaki Angels, complete with wings, to float around the Brooklands Park and TSB Bowl of Brooklands from March 16 to 18.
Tui Ora Oranga Ha¯ pori service leader Tamara Ruakere said the higher profile is to showcase what’s on offer at the kaupapa Ma¯ori organisation, Taranaki’s largest community-based health and social services provider.
‘‘This is the first time that Tui Ora is coming out and putting it out there,’’ Pa¯hake programme leader Ropata Maxwell, who is managing the manaaki lounge, said.
‘‘This is the biggest paepae that I can remember at Womad.’’
Ruakere said the festival vibe would be amazing.
‘‘Te paepae is going to be pumping.’’
Tui Ora communications team leader Sarah Foy said the angels would be roving the site in pairs, keeping an eye on rangatahi (teenagers) and chatting with them.
‘‘One of the awesome things is that the Kaitiaki Angels, thanks to the support of the Health Promotion Agency, are able to provide them with free kai.’’
The angels would be handing out food vouchers, which youngsters can redeem at the manaaki lounge, where they can sit down, rest and ko¯ rero with Tui Ora staff if they want to.
Womad’s event director, Emere Wano, said the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust-run festival was a place where cultural differences and beliefs were celebrated, and diversity abounds.
Wano said dedicating a space at the festival to house cultural engagement through workshops, activities, and interaction with locals, along with the po¯ whiri at Owae Marae for visiting international artists was hugely important for Womad.
‘‘They leave Taranaki with a memorable experience of who and what Aotearoa/New Zealand is.
‘‘Without these experiences we are just another music festival.’’