Te Puke’s Matariki celebrations - Te Kete o Matariki - may only be four years old but it already has its own very special tradition.

The last two events have featured a major musical act from Aotearoa New Zealand and this year is no different with reggae maestros House of Shem the headline act at next Friday’s event.

Sam Hema, director of Hemasphere Ltd Consultancy, is part of the organising team, and says the band is one of New Zealand’s biggest reggae acts.

“I just think their music has, for years, resonated with, specifically, Māori,” says Sam.

House of Shem’s latest offering, a reworking of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain, has been on “huge rotation since it was released”.

“So they are current, a really, really good band and a family band, so we really wanted them.

“We’ve had Aardijah before who’ve never played here before, we had 1814 who’s never played here before and these are all big bands and now we’ve got House of Shem, so it’s a bit of a tradition to bring them to Te Puke.”

House band for the day, once again, will be the Matariki Allstars, of which Sam is a member.

“Most of us are locals. It’s really my family, cousins and friends - a good bunch of musicians who have been doing this for a long time.”

Ngā Whetu choir, a choir that pulls together young people to sing waiata Māori, has featured at past celebrations and is back again.

“That’s quite an exciting element to the day,” says Sam.

“Then we have Te Kahui Pōuro o Tapuika, a group of traditional Māori instrument players performing led by Jo’el Komene.

School kapa haka group performances will be the early entertainment at Te Kete Matariki. Photo: NZME.

There will also be other entertainment added to the day’s events, including acoustic entertainment, with everything held together by MCs Hirinii Potene and Rawiri Biel.

“We also really want to focus on Māori kai this year, so there will be all sorts of Māori kai out there.”

Among the food offerings will be 1500 servings of hangi, which must be pre-ordered. A link for orders is available on the Te Kete Matariki - Te Puke Facebook page.

The day of celebration will start with non-competitive kapa haka performances.

Most local schools will be involved including, for the first time Pukehina and Rangiuru schools.

“We’re going to use a similar formula where we’ve got all the schools performing on the [separate] kapa haka stage,” says Tatai Takuira-Mita, leader of Fairhaven School’s Māori Immersion unit Toitoi Manawa.

The kapa haka section of the celebrations will end with a performance by adult kapa haka group Te Kapa Haka o Te Arawa Ki Tai.

Recognising Pōhutukawa, the Matariki Cluster star that is a reminder of loved ones who have passed on, there will once again be a memorial to those who have died over the past 12 months. It will be a special part of the day, giving the community the chance to honour those who have died.

Anyone who wants their loved one remembered in this way is asked to contact Tatai at tatai@fairhaven.school.nz.

“We are looking forward to another great festival, and we are hoping for fine weather,” says Tatai.

The first large-scale celebration in Te Puke was held in 2021, the year before Matariki became a public holiday.

The Te Puke celebration’s name draws on the story of Whakaotirangi, who had the role of securing the kūmara plants brought from Hawaiki to Aotearoa in a kete (basket) on the Te Arawa waka.

The story is told in the whakatauaki (proverb) Te Kete Rokiroki-a-Whakaotirangi - the secure basket of Whakaotirangi. She is a Te Arawa ancestress who links both Tia and Hei, the tūpuna (ancestors) of this area, who were on the Te Arawa waka, to this kaupapa.

Whakaotirangi not only had to look after the kūmara on the waka, but ensure it was safe for cultivation once the waka landed. Kūmara is a well-known food source for the people of the area.

Matariki is a time when the ground is being prepared for planting kūmara and a time for renewal entering the Māori New Year.

Te Kete Matariki will be at Jubilee Park on June 28, running from 10am-4pm.