Waka ama competing at Waitangi festival

More than 300 kaihoe (paddlers) from clubs as far away as Nelson took part in the Bay of Islands Waka Festival at Waitangi during the weekend. The event started with a traditional carved waka escorting the outrigger canoes to shore and a minute’s silence for the victims of the O¯ tautahi (Christchurch) shootings, and ended with the 25km Kris Kjeldsen Memorial Race founded by, and named after, one of the fathers of waka ama in New Zealand. The festival started small three years ago but grew massively this year with the number of youth paddlers more than tripling since 2018. Photos by PETER DE GRAAF

Waka ama land at Tii Beach, led by the traditional waka Tupi, to start of the two-day festival, right.Below, from left, Ngaire Apiata, Tainui Apiata and Hone Toki.