Tāmaki Makaurau is preparing to host the largest rainbow sporting event ever staged in Aotearoa, with more than 1,300 competitors expected to take part in Rainbow Games 2026.
Led by Pacific Rainbow Games Chair and Kaitohu Ao Māori Tux Hika, the four-day event will run from 29 October to 1 November, bringing together rainbow communities, takatāpui, MVPFAFF+, allies, whānau and inclusive sporting clubs from across Aotearoa, Australia and the Pacific.
The Games return after the inaugural event in 2024 demonstrated strong demand for a sporting environment where participation, competition and belonging could exist side by side.
This year organisers are promising something considerably bigger.
13 SPORTS, 1,300 COMPETITORS
Rainbow Games 2026 will feature 13 sports — badminton, basketball, football, functional fitness, kickball, indoor bowls, netball, running, swimming, ten-pin bowling, tennis, touch and volleyball.
Yoga and Zumba will also be offered through Get Active options for people wanting to participate outside formal competition.
Competitors do not have to be elite athletes or established club members.
People aged 18 and over can enter individually or as part of a team, with opportunities ranging from first-time and social participation through to serious competition. Organisers can also help individual entrants connect with teams.
For Hika, that accessibility is fundamental to what the Games are trying to achieve.
The kaupapa is about creating sporting spaces where people who may previously have felt excluded can compete, try something new, connect with others and experience a genuine sense of belonging.
TAKATĀPUI LEADERSHIP AT THE CENTRE
Hika brings a distinctly Māori perspective to that kaupapa.
He is Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Awa, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Ruanui, identifies as takatāpui, and is a co-founding trustee of the Pacific Rainbow Games Trust.
Alongside serving as Chair and Kaitohu Ao Māori, Hika is involved with Intersex Aotearoa and has served on Auckland Council’s Rainbow Communities Advisory Panel, as well as holding roles with takatāpui and whenua Māori trusts.
The Trust itself places tūrangawaewae, mana motuhake, hauora and manaakitanga within its mission for inclusive sport and recreation.
That creates an important place within the Games for takatāpui and wider Māori understandings of identity, wellbeing and belonging.
SPORT HAS NOT ALWAYS FELT SAFE FOR EVERYONE
Behind the celebration sits a more serious issue.
Sport can be one of the most powerful places for building confidence, friendships, physical health and community.
But sporting environments have not always provided that sense of belonging for rainbow people.
Changing rooms, team cultures, assumptions about gender and sexuality, discrimination and fear of judgement can become barriers to participation.
Rainbow Games attempts to turn that experience around.
Rather than asking rainbow athletes to fit into an existing sporting culture, the event creates an environment where diversity is already expected and welcomed.
And allies are explicitly invited to participate alongside rainbow communities.
STAR POWER JOINS THE GAMES
The 2026 Games are also drawing support from high-profile figures across sport and rainbow communities.
The ambassador line-up includes former All Black Campbell Johnstone, footballer and FIFA trailblazer Jaiyah Saelua, transgender cyclist Kate Weatherly, footballer Hugo Chou and entertainer Buckwheat.
Their involvement gives the event visibility beyond the competition itself.
Johnstone made history in 2023 as the first All Black to publicly come out as gay, while Saelua became internationally recognised as the first openly transgender footballer to compete in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Together, the ambassadors represent different experiences of sport, identity and visibility.
2024 PROVED THERE WAS AN APPETITE
The first Rainbow Games were held in Auckland in 2024.
The post-event evaluation provides a strong indication of why organisers decided to return.
Among surveyed participants, 90 percent said they would attend again, 89 percent would recommend the Games to others, and 100 percent believed Rainbow Games should become a permanent fixture.
The 2026 edition is now expected to attract more than 1,300 participants, generate over 2,000 visitor nights and contribute around $500,000 in visitor spending to Auckland.
More than $170,000 of that expenditure is expected to come from international visitors.
That gives the Games an economic dimension alongside their sporting and social impact.
Hotels, hospitality businesses, venues and local retailers all stand to benefit from competitors and supporters travelling to Tāmaki Makaurau.
A LEGACY FOR RANGATAHI
The Games are also looking beyond the medals awarded in October.
Player registration includes a contribution towards the Rangatahi Legacy Initiative, designed to support future generations of LGBTQI+ young people in sport.
That may ultimately become one of the most important measures of the event’s success.
A major sporting festival can create visibility for four days.
Changing whether a young takatāpui or rainbow person believes there is a place for them in sport can have an impact lasting considerably longer.
For rangatahi, seeing rainbow and takatāpui athletes competing openly also challenges the idea that sporting identity and rainbow identity must somehow exist separately.
FROM THE SIDELINES TO CENTRE COURT
Rainbow Games 2026 opens with its ceremony on Thursday 29 October, with competitions running from Friday through Sunday before the closing event on 1 November.
General registrations close on 16 October, although running has an earlier deadline because events are being delivered in partnership with the Auckland Marathon.
The standard Games registration is $69, with individual sport fees added depending on the competition.
But Hika and the Pacific Rainbow Games Trust are building something larger than another entry on Auckland’s sporting calendar.
The kaupapa challenges sporting organisations to think about who feels welcome, who participates and who has historically been left standing on the sidelines.
Rainbow Games 2026 is making its answer clear — whether takatāpui, rainbow, MVPFAFF+, ally, first-time participant or experienced athlete, there should be room on the field, court, track and starting line for everyone.
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