It was a chilly windy day in Te Whanganui-a-Tara on Saturday, but our performance Kapa Haka group rose above it and represented our kura amazingly well at the 2023 festival.

The St Brigid's Kapa Haka festival was started by Matuā Wayne Firmin back in 2001. It was started so that our tamariki and rangatahi (youth) from the Northern Suburbs could share and celebrate their kapa haka performances with other local schools and centres. The festival has and always will be a festival that is not judged on the performance but on the love of performing, along with giving the opportunity for other cultures to see and experience Māori culture. This festival is now an annual event, and all those who attend have an absolute blast, from the tamariki performing, to the parents, whānau and friends who attend. 

This year an amazing 16 early childhood centres and schools participated in the festival, and it was incredible. It was hosted at Rāroa Intermediate School, and organised by Khandallah School, Churton Park School and Crofton Downs School. They did a fabulous job and it was a great event, despite the chilly weather. 

Our ākonga were fantastic, and we were all so proud of their performance. They performed so well to a really large audience, and most importantly they appeared to really enjoy the occasion. The group also performed to the rest of the school on Wednesday.

Special thanks goes to our amazing kapa haka tutor, Hemi Prime. Hemi has worked with us weekly to teach us a wide range of waiata and waiata-ā-ringa (action songs), and to prepare us for the festival. We would also like to thank Papa Jack, our kaumatua (respected elder who supports our school), for his support as always. Papa was at the festival to enjoy the performances and also to speak on behalf of manuhiri (visitors) in the powhiri. Huge thanks also to Natalie, Hannah, Sonali, Sophia, and Onaitta, who have been the kaiako leading and organising the performance group. We couldn't have done this without help leading up to the festival and on the day with getting ngā ākonga ready for their performance - big thanks to Belinda, Nic, Jack, Jenny, Ruia, and Michelle. 

All in all, a fantastic event. Ka rawe to all of our tamariki who performed - you were incredible.