Matariki Summer Picnic

Bring your friends and whanau down to Trout Lake Park (John Hendry) for a classic Kiwi sausage sizzle and celebrate the Maori New Year with us!

Find us at the picnic shelters in the South end park, near the concession stand. We will have games and the BBQ fired up and ready to serve you a delicious, tomato sauce and onion covered sausage. We will also have a range of tasty kiwi treats to share out that will give you all the feels. Make sure to RSVP so we have enough to go around.

For the tamariki we will also have kites ready to be decorated and flown high into the sky. Kites have always played an important role in Māori culture, particularly during the winter season when they were flown to signify the start of Matariki, the Māori New Year.

The Māori kite is called manu tukutuku or manu aute – manu translates as either kite or bird. Another word for kites is pākau, meaning the bird wing. Traditionally, mānuka (tea tree) and kareao (supplejack) were often used to make the larger kite frames, whereas the stems of toetoe, kākāka (bracken) and rush were used to make kites for children.

If you are bringing children please let us know so we have enough kites for everyone to enjoy.

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