Te Rā o Waitangi – Waitangi Day Festival 2025

Toitu te tiriti!

A few days before the gig, directors Darryn and Arawhetu announced that they would like us to begin our Waitangi Day performance by singing Ngā iwi E. This well-loved waiata was composed by Hirini Melbourne in 1984 for the Festival of Pacific Arts, which was to be held in New Caledonia. Ngā iwi E calls for unity among peoples of the Pacific and by extension, all peoples.

We felt it would be an appropriate waiata for Waitangi Day, particularly as the Festival itself featured a mixture of performances from groups representing the wide range of cultures that make up our beautiful bicultural and multicultural nation.

As a group, we haven’t incorporated waiata into our performance before, although we have included a number of Brazilian songs over the years. On the surface it was something of a brave call, with only a few days to go, a single rehearsal and not much time to learn it (if you didn’t know the lyrics already). As a comparison, our Brazilian song/chant Chegou – which is part of our current repertoire – is still a work in progress in terms of harmony, as it’s hard to find a consistent note to start us off with. So – a bit of challenge, you might say.

Wellington Batucada singing the waiata Ngā iwi E at Te Rā o Waitangi – Waitangi Day Festival 2025
Video by Tom Etuata

However, there’s something very special about waiata, and especially a waiata performed in celebration of the signing of Aotearoa’s founding document 185 years ago. Perhaps it was the occasion itself, or Darryn and his guitar, or Arawhetu providing us with the first few words of each verse – or maybe it was the fact that many members of the band already know and love this waiata. Whatever the reason, we all rose to the occasion, and sounded quite a bit better than I think we were expecting. Yay! Go us!

This is the first time we’ve been invited to take part in Wellington’s Waitangi Day celebrations, and we were pretty stoked (and honoured) to have been asked. It was the most beautiful day – sunny and hot with just a slight breath of wind – and Waitangi Park was full to bursting with Wellingtonians celebrating our national day together.

From the WCC website:

Nau mai, haere mai! Te Rā o Waitangi is a free, whānau-friendly event, to commemorate the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) and Aotearoa New Zealand’s national day. It’s about coming together to celebrate Aotearoa New Zealand and acknowledging our treaty obligations and partnerships…

Te Rā o Waitangi 2025 acknowledged tūrangawaewae and whakapapa for all – where is the place you lay down your roots? Where is your family from? This year, Wellington City Council used our national day to celebrate the things that we all share, and the things about us that are different.

Some of the members of the band had taken part in a hikoi earlier in the day, making our way through the city to Waitangi Park. In this context, we’re not Batucada, but an as-yet unnamed completely different group. I was still dressed in my black and red hikoi ensemble when I bumped into fellow Batucada member Courtenay. She was somewhat freaked out by my outfit, wondering if we’d completely changed our costume and she’d missed the memo. Much relief when I showed her my Batucada outfit hidden underneath. Phew!

We mustered backstage in the very welcome shade of the Chaffers building, and watched an incredibly athletic Chinese group dancing with the dragon, which was seriously impressive, especially in that heat!

Once they had finished their set, we made our way onto the large space in front of the stage, and got ready to sing. The crowd was huuuuge, and super-smiley. It was the most lovely atmosphere.

Wellington Batucada performing Sambanui Samba Reggae at Te Rā o Waitangi – Waitangi Day Festival 2025
Video by Tom Etuata

After the waiata, we pulled out an old favourite, Sambanui samba reggae, which is tricky to play (all those off-beats!) and always well-received. For some reason, we ended up going super-fast, which is somewhat of a challenge for the dancers too – it’s a fully choreographed piece – but they did us proud, as they always do. We followed with our classic Rocinha samba, and closed with Six-Eight.

What a great gig! Such a receptive audience – some of whom came up and danced with us at the end – a larger-than-usual contingent of both drummers and dancers – and a wonderful feeling of shared appreciation and enjoyment. What a great way to celebrate our national day together and commemorate the signing of Te Tiriti.

Really really special.

Photo gallery

Photos by Alison Green, Kelly Etuata, Meghana Woolly Moth Amarnath, Tom Etuata, Vicky Lin and Wellington City Council. Click on any thumbnail to see the larger version: