Matariki Arrowtown Kā-Muriwai returns

The countdown is on with one week to go until the Matariki celebrations in Arrowtown (Kā- Muriwai) take place on Friday, 28 June.

This year, festivities stretch from Buckingham Green to Library Green with entertainment and installations for all ages. The Atheneaum Hall, Lakes District Museum and Arrowtown Library will also be open and filled with local artists, exhibitions, and specialists.

The event line-up includes a range of entertainers including Arrowtown’s own Kathleen Brentwood, Milly B, Gemma Cribb, renowned astrophysicist Professor Brian Boyle, and the Freefall band playing Kiwi classics to end the evening.

Kathleen Brentwood is well known to the Arrowtown community as prior to moving to Christchurch, she worked at Arrowtown Primary School and performed in more than 20 Showbiz Queenstown musicals and productions. She also sung with the Queenstown Jazz Orchestra and local Māori waiata group Waiatatia.

Milly B will also perform a fire dance on the Buckingham Green stage, a dance she has designed especially for the Matariki event. Milly is renowned for her unique talent and is a crowd favourite.

Gemma Cribb is another Arrowtown local who will blend her astronomy and Māori knowledge in her korero at Lakes District Museum. Gemma hails from Ngāti Manuhiri and she has a knack for explaining astronomy and Māori culture in an approachable way.

Also at the Lakes District Museum will be Professor Brian Boyle, one of the world's pre-eminent astrophysicists and a member of the Winterstellar Charitable Trust. Brian will be available to talk to inside the Museum alongside the epic imagery from the Winterstellar Astrophotography Competition.

Watson & Wyatt Director Ann Wyatt is delighted to have a range of talent taking part in the Matariki Arrowtown Kā-Muriwai event and is looking forward to the celebrations.

“Paired with this line-up we also have a variety of local performers on the community stage at Library Green, which we are calling our ‘scenic zone’, and over 220 preschool and school students performing on the main stage at Buckingham Green,” says Mrs Wyatt.

“It’s going to be a wonderful event. Come along, gather around the braziers and watch the light installations, learn about the cultural significance of Matariki and have fun,” she adds.

Arrowtown Preschool Manager Jane Foster has been a part of the preschool’s Matariki festivities since they began over 20 years ago and is proud to see how the event has evolved and grown into a wider community celebration.

“Matariki has always been a mainstay in the Arrowtown Preschool’s event calendar as a cultural celebration and as we are a non-profit community preschool, it also has become a big fundraising event for us. This year we will be fundraising with kai stalls near Buckingham Green and we encourage people from near and far to come and join in the celebrations, eat some kai and watch our tamariki shine on stage,” says Mrs Foster.

The Buckingham Green stage is the primary location for the preschool, Arrowtown Primary School and Wakatipu High School’s Kapa haka groups. The preschool and school children’s Matariki themed artworks will exhibited in the Hall, business windows and the Museum.

The Matariki Arrowtown Kā-Muriwai event schedule and map is online at: www.arrowtown.com/matariki. The event runs from 3.30pm on Friday, 28 June. For those who wish to make a koha donation to go towards future Matariki Arrowtown Kā-Muriwai events, there will be koha donation buckets and Eftpos available.