Toitū Te Reo, the world's first Māori language festival, will celebrate language, culture and the identity of Māori and wider New Zealand in the heart of Heretaunga, in the Hastings CBD on August 8-9 2024.
This uplifting celebration of all things Māori will offer a chance to taste Māori food, experience Māori culture, and to feel our national identity in a unique, welcoming environment.
Toitū Te Reo provides a platform for thousands of New Zealanders to come together and celebrate what the language means to us in Aotearoa. It will inspire, entertain, unite, challenge, excite, and activate.
Toitū Te Reo is a partnership between Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc, Hastings District Council and Te Matau-a-Māui based company Kauwaka, and has the support of Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII and iwi chairs from the top of the North to the bottom of the South Island.
Toitū Te Reo is a long-held aspiration of respected te reo champion, Dr. Sir Tīmoti Kāretu and other te reo proponents, and the hui ā-motu held at Tūrangawaewae Marae in January was a catalyst for making this vision a reality.
At the centre of the festival is the Toitū Te Reo symposium, Te Reo ki Tua, which has gone from strength to strength over seven years, featuring discussion panels of te reo experts, keynote speakers, spaces for fluent speakers to upskill, and spaces for people just starting to learn.
Toitū Te Reo festival features free events including wānanga, a rangatahi poetry slam, food stalls, information stalls, a kōhanga reo space, a parent's retreat area, art trail, live demos, retail and street concerts.
A festival highlight will be a ticketed all-star variety show with bi-lingual stand-up comedy, musicians and kapa haka.

ABOUT US
OUR PEOPLE

Te Puhiariki Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō Paki
Tumu Kairangi - Patroness

Dr Sir Tīmoti Kāretu KNZM QSO CRSNZ
Tumu Kairangi - Patron

Bayden Barber
Toihau - Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated

Sandra Hazlehurst
Mayor - Hastings District Council

Dr. Jeremy Tātere MacLeod
Mana Hautū - Project Director

HE KUPU WHAKATAU
Haere mai rā tātau, Aotearoa whānui, kia whakanui tahi tātau i te reo taketake o tēnei whenua, tōna ātaahua, tōna mana, tōna tapu me tāna paihere i a tātau katoa. Kua mahi nui tātau kia ora tonu tēnei reo, heoi anō te mahi ināianei he whakaatu i tōna whakahirahira kaua ki Aotearoa noa iho nei, engari ki te ao whānui.
Welcome, Aotearoa! Let's celebrate the first language of our nation—its beauty, its prestige, its sanctity, and its power to unite us all. We have worked hard to ensure the survival of our language, and now is our chance to show the world how it lies at the very heart of our national identity.

Te Kurataiaho Kapea
Northland Tribes

Ngārimu Parata
East Coast Tribes

Paulette Tāmati-Elliffe
Southern Tribes

Te Ingo Ngaia
West Coast Tribes

Piripi Winiata
Whānau Language Planning

Dame Hinewehi Mohi DNZM
Music Industry

Tawaroa Kāwana
Music & Entertainment

Nikau Hindin
Arts

Te Atamihi Whanga-Papa
Rangatahi & Tainui

Te Aorere Pēwhairangi
Rangatahi & Media

Raukura Huata
Hospitality