Mānawatia a Matariki! Here’s our guide for what’s on across Aotearoa – ranging from free events for the whole family, to gold coin entry to big paid concert events!
Auckland
Tūhono Light Trail
Te Kōmititanga, walking to Māhuhu ki te Rangi Park, Opens Friday 26 June and is on every night until mid-July, Free
As the nights grow longer, the city lights up for Matariki. Be among the first to experience Tūhono, an immersive light trail connecting Te Kōmititanga, Takutai Square, Beach Road and Māhuhu ki te Rangi Park. Gather your whānau and friends and discover a new way to experience the heart of the city after dark.
Matariki ki te Rangi: Ngā Reo o te Rangi, Voices of the Stars Concert
Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall, Friday July 10, Tickets from $71.26
This Matariki, we gather beneath the rising stars to honour remembrance, renewal, and connection, and to celebrate a cultural renaissance grounded in te ao Māori.
Join us for a powerful evening of music, storytelling, and reflection as some of Aotearoa’s most compelling voices come together under one sky. Headlined by Stan Walker, with performances from Maisey Rika and Troy Kingi, this special concert weaves sound, soul, and whakapapa into a shared Matariki experience.
Guided by a keynote speaker Dr Rangi Mātāmua, the evening invites us to look upward, remember those who have gone before us, celebrate the present, and step forward with renewed identity, language, and connection.
Ngā Reo o te Rangi — Voices of the Stars is more than a concert. It is a gathering of voices and wairua, reflecting resurgence, renewal, and the enduring light of our peoples.
Matariki – Ngā Whetū o te Tau Hou 2026, at Stardome
Auckland’s Stardome, Sessions available throughout July, Tickets from $13.50
Join us at Stardome as we celebrate Matariki in 2026— a time of remembrance, reflection, and renewal under the rising stars of the Māori New Year. In this immersive planetarium experience, you’ll journey through the night sky to explore the Matariki star cluster and its importance in Aotearoa and te ao Māori. Discover the rich purākau (stories), science, and traditions connected to each of the nine whetū, learn about the Maramataka (the Māori lunar calendar), and reflect on how Matariki guides us through the cycles of the year along with many other significant stars.
Whether you’re reconnecting with Matariki or experiencing it for the first time, this show is a great way to honour the season and gain a deeper appreciation of Māori astronomy and our place within the cosmos.
Mahuta Concert
NZ International Convention Centre, Sky City, Saturday 18 July from 6pm, Tickets are $39.18 each
Curated by Majic Pāora, Mahuta returns this Matariki as a celebration of indigenous excellence, bringing together some of Aotearoa’s most exciting Māori artists for one special evening. Through waiata, haka, storytelling and performance, Mahuta creates a space where our stories are shared, our culture is celebrated, and people come together through the power of live performance.
Matariki Arts & Crafts at Auckland Art Gallery
Auckland Art Gallery, School holidays every day 11am – 3pm. FREE
If you’re looking for something fun, creative and FREE to do these school holidays, this is a perfect option. Whānau drop-ins at Auckland Gallery are family-focused art-making workshops that encourage families to get creative together. They’re held from 11am – 3pm every day of the school holidays. It’s also good to remember this one for outside of school holiday time, because they’re also held every weekend during that time! Perfect for a rainy day activity.
In July, the workshops available is ‘Catch a Rainbow, Make a Wish’. The glass crystals on Reuben Paterson’s Guide Kaiārahi were chosen because they catch and bend light. The crystals throw beautiful rainbows of colour and light in different directions. Explore the play crystals provided. Can you see a rainbow? Decorate the star Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the wishing star of the Matariki cluster, with the colours of the rainbow. Make a wish for the new year on your star.
Hautapu ā Motu
Takaparawhau, Ōrākei, Friday 10 July from 6:00am, Free
Join thousands of people from across Tāmaki and beyond for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s annual Hautapu ceremony on Takaparawhau. Gather before dawn for karakia and the sacred umu kohukohu ceremony, honouring loved ones who have passed, giving thanks, and sharing aspirations for the year ahead.
Live Theatre: Constellations
Q Theatre, Performances on 14th and 18th July, Tickets $25
Set under the stars of Matariki, this Aotearoa adaptation by Nī Dekkers-Reihana reimagines Nick Payne’s award-winning play through a te ao Māori lens.
An astrophysicist and a beekeeper meet at a barbeque, drawn together by curiosity and connection. Their relationship unfolds across infinite realities — blossoming, faltering, and transforming in ways both tender and devastating. At once intimate and expansive, Constellations explores the fragile balance between choice and fate, asking what changes when we shift the context of a love story.
Grounded in Aotearoa and alive with the spirit of renewal, this is a story that reminds us every moment contains infinite possibilities.
Matariki Twilight Market
Māhuhu ki te Rangi Park, Friday 10 July and Saturday 25 July from 4pm – 9pm, Free entry
Celebrate Te Mātahi o Te Tau and the rising of Matariki in the heart of Te Tōangaroa. Enjoy a vibrant twilight market filled with local kai trucks, mahi toi, live entertainment and more.
Matariki Herenga Waka, School Holiday Program at Auckland Maritime Museum
Auckland Maritime Museum, July School Holidays, Free!
Every weekday during the school holidays, the Maritime museum is running a kids programme – Matariki Herenga Waka – from 10am – 2.30pm. It costs $5 a session, and bookings are advised.
Join the team for a hands-on adventure where tamariki become apprentice wayfinders! Build a cardboard waka, then set off on a journey through the museum to discover the nine stars of Matariki, learning knowledge and navigation along the way, and explore what the stars can teach us about food, weather, family, and the sea.
Every Sunday in July from 10am – 2pm kids can also join in on an arts and crafts session, creating their own memory stone in honour of someone special for Matariki. Kōhatu (stones) are lasting and strong – just like the memories we carry of the people we love. Take your stone home or add it to our growing taonga chest, filled with memories shared during Matariki at the Maritime Museum.
Matariki Sunrise Yoga
Sky Tower: Main Observation Deck, 7:00am & 8.00am on 10 & 11 July, $40
Embrace a time of reflection and look forward to the New Year with a guided yoga session high above the clouds. With 360-degree views over Auckland’s CBD, welcome the New Year with some reflection before finishing off with a complimentary beverage included with your ticket.
Planting Day
Te Pou Whakairo (59B Kitemoana Street, Ōrākei), Saturday 20 June 9:30am – 1pm, Free
Join us for our annual Matariki Planting Day. This is a special opportunity for everyone in Tāmaki to come together and give back to whenua during the Matariki season. This year, we will be planting around 3000 native plants on Takaparawhau, Bastion Point.
Bring your gumboots, gloves, and good vibes as we spend the day planting native plants and helping to restore and nurture our taiao. This is a hands-on day for all ages, with tamariki, rangatahi, pakeke, and kaumātua all welcome to take part!
Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa | Celebrate Matariki at Metita
Metita, July 9 6pm – 8.30pm, $175pp for a Six-course tasting menu + welcome drink on arrival
Be welcomed into an evening of kōrero, waiata and the rising of Matariki, the constellation that has guided our ancestors across Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa for generations, the same stars that charted the great migration, and the ones rising now.
This July, join us in the meeting of two living traditions, honouring the Māori New Year through the pacific style of sharing, together around the table in the spirit of gathering.
In partnership with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, join Kārena and Kasey Bird and Michael Meredith for a sharing style menu that follows the stars of Matariki, each course a chapter of navigation, guided by a different star rooted in what it governs: the whenua, the rivers, the forests and the oceans.
Wellington
Te Papa Matariki Whānau Day
Te Papa, Fri 10 Jul 2026, 10am to 2pm, Free
Matariki Herenga Waka, the theme of this year’s celebrations, acknowledges the stories, traditions, and mātauranga carried by waka, and the voyages that bring people together. On this Whānau Day, some of the activities available include:
- Learn about the remote Polynesian Islands of Rennell and Bellona in the Solomon Islands through a design workshop with Artist and Carver Selwyn Palmer.
- Drawing on the ancestral wisdom of Tokelau, Fiji, and Uvea, explore how the moon and winds have guided our people for generations through interactive creations with artist Emele Ugavule.
- Navigators from Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti will demonstrate their star compass and how it is used in voyaging across the Pacific.
- Learn about the importance of the frigatebird in Kiribati culture with St Josephs Kiribati Community.
- Complete a Te Papa Taonga Trail and learn about the exhibitions and the tohu of Matariki.
- Get your face painted with Matariki-inspired designs.
- Watch the documentary film screening of Remathau: People of the Ocean, a feature documentary that follows the journey of Nicole Yamase, the first Micronesian to dive to the deepest part of the ocean, Challenger Deep, in the Marianas Trench.
Matariki guided ride on Te Ara Tupua
Honiana Te Puni Reserve, Friday July 10, Free
Experience the beauty of the Wellington Harbour riding between Petone and Wellington on Te Ara Tupua, a safe, separated pathway.
E-bikes and helmets provided. Arrive in time to enjoy Matariki celebrations on the waterfront.
Matariki Together
Space Place at Carter Observatory, Sunday 12 July 2026 10:00am – 3:00pm, Entry from $5 – $10
Nau mai haere mai! Matariki is upon us once more, and we invite you to celebrate the New Year with us at Space Place.
This is a time for us to remember and honour our loved ones who have passed, reflect and express gratitude for what we have, and look forward to the year ahead.
Bring your whānau, chosen or extended, for a day of live Matariki star talks in the planetarium, kapa haka from Tīwhanawhana, a whānau craft activity, and storytelling with Moira Wairama.
Matariki Ahi Kā
Wellington Waterfront, Thursday 9 July – Sunday 12 July 2026, 6 – 9pm, Free
We invite you to celebrate the Māori New Year in a uniquely Wellington way.
Honour our culture and history, with a big, bold, immersive Wellington Waterfront walk-through journey including fire, projections, performances, and a special ceremony each night honouring those who have passed away. Share kai with friends and whānau at our kai courts while enjoying live music. See the stage programmes and the event map below for more information.
Christchurch
Te Matatiki Toi Ora / Matariki 2026 at The Arts Centre
Christchurch Arts Centre, Saturday 4 – Sunday 12, Free and ticketed events
Te Matatiki Toi Ora features a packed program of kapa haka, night markets, traditional kite-making workshops (Manu Tukutuku), and the Tiger-Dragon-Horses dance films by Good Company Arts. Specific events include the Matariki Mākete (July 10-11) and Ka Pō, Ka Ao – Waiata by the Fire on July 11.
Matariki in the Zone 2026
Riverlution EcoHub, Saturday 11 July 2026 2:30pm – 6:30pm, Free
Richmond Community Garden, Riverlution, We Are Richmond, Avebury House and the Avon-Ōtākaro Network welcome you to this winter-warming event highlighting Matariki in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor. We’ll mark Matariki and aspects of Maori Tradition with food, music, activities and a week-long star trail to explore before or after sundown!
Enjoy a family-friendly afternoon of cultural activities, followed by a hāngī cooked by the awesome team from Tuahiwi Marae.
Family-Friendly Activities: a range of local community organizations will host activities for the whole family to enjoy. Matariki Star Trail: local community groups and artists have created each of our 9 Matariki star installations, reflecting the story behind each star. The light display will be on all week leading up to the main event on Saturday 11 July, look out for our guided night walks in the lead-up! Kai: available all afternoon, as well as hot chocolate and alcohol-free mulled wine. Try the delicious fried bread, boil-up, and veggie soup – all for koha so bring your gold coins! The hāngī will be lifted at around 5pm.
Matariki Rail Experience
Great Journeys NZ Train, Christchurch Railway Station, Saturday 11 July 2026 3:30pm – 11:45pm, $499
Embark on an unforgettable journey with the Matariki rail experience, where you’ll travel from Ōtautahi Christchurch to Kaikōura for an evening of stargazing and cultural discovery under Te Waipounamu’s (South Island’s) stunning night sky. Celebrate Matariki, the Māori New Year, through an immersive experience featuring expert-led stargazing, historical insights, and the warmth of good company.
Inclusions: Round-trip train journey Ōtautahi Christchurch ⇄ Kaikōura. Departing Saturday afternoon, returning late that evening
Kai | Dining: 4-course winter-themed dinner with beers and wines (2 courses each way)
In Kaikōura: Full stargazing experience hosted by Destination Kaikōura, the Kaikōura Dark Sky Trust & Moana Skies. A full range of telescopes with trained Dark Sky guides. Complimentary hot drinks. Fire pits for gathering and warmth. Dark sky education space. Access to the historic Fyffe House. Matariki night market
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