The heart of Tāmaki Makaurau will come alive with kapa haka, kōrero, toi Māori and kai this September as the inaugural Poumatua Festival brings three days of Māori culture and history into Auckland’s city centre.
Running from 17 to 19 September 2026, the new festival will take over Auckland Town Hall, Aotea Square and Q Theatre, creating a major platform for Māori performance, storytelling and intergenerational learning.
Led by Tumutumuwhenua Cultural Trust in partnership with Auckland Live, and supported by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Auckland Council Events, Poumatua is designed to bring generations together while celebrating the whakapapa and history of Tāmaki Makaurau.
Kapa haka will be at the centre of the programme, with some of Aotearoa’s most celebrated rōpū taking the stage.
Audiences will have the opportunity to experience legendary groups including Waihīrere, Te Waka Huia, Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Te Rōpū Manutaki, bringing decades of kapa haka excellence into the central city.
But Poumatua is not only about celebrating established performers.
Tamariki will also take their place through Te Kahu Tōpuni, creating a direct connection between those who have carried Māori performing arts across generations and the rangatahi who will take that legacy forward.
That intergenerational kaupapa runs throughout the festival.
Alongside kapa haka, the three-day programme will feature Māori arts, kōrero, kai and cultural experiences intended to showcase the breadth of Māori creativity and provide opportunities for whānau and visitors to connect with the history of the city.
At the heart of Poumatua is Tuku Whenua, a traditional ceremony commemorating the tuku whenua associated with Ngāti Whātua rangatira Apihai Te Kawau.
The ceremony acknowledges the generosity and historical decisions that helped enable the establishment of Auckland, placing Ngāti Whātua history at the centre of a festival being held within the modern city that grew from those foundations.
That historical focus gives Poumatua a significance extending beyond entertainment.
For many people moving through central Auckland today, the Māori history beneath the streets, buildings and public spaces can easily be overlooked.
Poumatua provides an opportunity to bring that whakapapa back into public view and reinforce the relationship between Ngāti Whātua, the whenua and Tāmaki Makaurau.
Holding the festival across prominent central-city venues also gives Māori culture visibility in spaces visited by thousands of Aucklanders and international visitors.
Aotea Square and Auckland Town Hall have hosted countless major civic and cultural occasions. Poumatua will now bring kapa haka, tikanga and Ngāti Whātua narratives into those spaces across three days.
The festival arrives at a time when kapa haka continues to demonstrate its power as much more than performance.
It is a vehicle for te reo Māori, whakapapa, mātauranga, identity and collective memory, providing a way for knowledge to move from kaumātua and pakeke through to rangatahi and tamariki.
Bringing iconic kapa haka rōpū together with the youngest performers makes that transmission visible on the same stages.
From tamariki taking their early steps in Māori performing arts to some of the most respected kapa haka performers in the country, Poumatua aims to show Māori culture as a living continuum rather than something confined to the past.
For Tāmaki Makaurau, the inaugural festival will also provide an opportunity to celebrate the Māori foundations of the city itself.
For three days this September, the centre of Auckland will become a place where whenua, whakapapa, history, waiata and generations meet — putting Māori identity firmly at the heart of Tāmaki Makaurau.
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