The festival of Matariki, celebrates the start of the Māori New Year and in 2025 it begins on Thursday 19 June and runs until Sunday 22 June – with a public holiday for all people of Aotearoa New Zealand on Friday 20 June.
Matariki is a special time for Māori living in Aotearoa and Australia, with public celebrations and festivals that bring communities together, with a focus on food and Māori culture. In 2022 it became the first public holiday in Aotearoa New Zealand to be based on a First Nations celebration.
Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of nine stars (known in Europe as the Pleiades), which become visible in the Southern Hemisphere in June/July. Matariki follows a lunar calendar system and like Easter, the date changes each year.
Matariki traditionally occurred after the harvest and was a time of relaxation and reflection. Traditions include songs, games, shared meals and offerings to tipuna (those who have passed).
Matariki is often understood through three main themes that continue to guide celebrations today:
1.Remembrance – Honouring those we have lost
Matariki begins with a time of mourning, where families remember loved ones who have passed during the year. It is a chance to speak their names, share stories, and acknowledge their lives in a collective space of aroha (love).
2.Celebration – Giving thanks for the present
After remembrance comes celebration — a time to share kai (food), enjoy music and dance, and spend time with whānau (family) and friends. It’s a joyful moment of gratitude for life, health, and community.
3.Aspiration – Looking ahead with hope
The final theme focuses on the future. People make wishes, set goals, and plant seeds for the coming year — both literally and metaphorically. Children especially are encouraged to think about their dreams, their role in caring for the world, and the kind of future they want to create.
For more information on the meaning and wairua (spirit) behind Matariki, and different ways to celebrate, visit the official Matariki website.
Matariki Chief Advisor Professor Rangi Mātāmua says that all New Zealanders are:
“Encouraged to view Matariki as a time to journey home, spend time with whānau (family) and friends, and enjoy feasting on fresh, locally sourced produce’.
“While the stars that mark the beginning of the Māori New Year may vary in some rohe (regions), the themes that underpin the ceremony and celebration are the same,” Professor Mātāmua said.
“It’s awesome to see understanding of Matariki grow in New Zealand, but even more so across the world as other cultures reconnect with their indigenous astronomical traditions.
“Three quarters (75%) of Kiwis see Matariki as a chance to celebrate the culture, people, and stories of Aotearoa, up from 70% in 2023. This trend suggests there’s a deepening appreciation for Matariki across the motu (country).
Matariki can mean either ‘the eyes of god’ or ‘little eyes’, and while different traditions are practiced by different iwi (tribes), up to nine stars are acknowledged, each with its own association with some element of the natural world, or Māori culture.
1.Matariki is the star that signifies reflection, hope, our connection to the environment, and the gathering of people. Matariki is also connected to the health and wellbeing of people and is also the mother of the other stars in the cluster.
2.Waitī is associated with all freshwater bodies and the food sources that are sustained by those rivers, streams and lakes
3.Waitā is associated with the ocean, and all food sources within it.
4.Waipuna-ā-rangi is associated with the rain.
5.Tupuānuku is the star associated with everything that grows within the soil to be harvested or gathered for food.
6.Tupuārangi is associated with everything that grows in the trees: fruits, berries, and birds.
7.Ururangi is associated with the winds.
8.Pōhutukawa is associated with those that have passed on since the last rising of Matariki.
9.Hiwa-i-te-rangi is associated with your dreams, desires and wishes, for the coming year.
Matariki is a great example of making First Nations traditions and culture central to a national celebration and ensuring that Māori are included in the ongoing story of Aotearoa New Zealand.
This year, Matariki celebrations will take many forms across Aotearoa New Zealand, and all peoples have the opportunity to come together, celebrate, show respect for the land they live on, and to share the Matariki tradition.
ANZSOG wishes you Mānawatia a Matariki (Happy Māori New Year) wherever you are celebrating.