Kicking off with Vector Lights for Tuia 250 at 8pm on Thursday 24 October, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland Council is bringing the sounds, sights and tastes of the sea to Tuia 250 ki Tāmaki Makaurau this Labour Weekend.
Headlining Te Tangi o te Moana - Sounds of the Sea on the stage at Karanga Plaza, and joined by Hātea Kapa Haka is multi-talented songstress Bic Runga. Her te reo Māori version of her 1996 hit Sway, Haere Mai Ra/Sway from the Waiata/Anthems album recently debuted at number one.
Kiwi music legend, Annie Crummer, will also sing with her father Will Crummer in a performance that will combine pop and Pasifika music. Father and daughter previously teamed up for Will's 2011 album Shoebox Lovesongs.
Will Crummer is a living Pacific treasure; a master singer and encyclopaedia of Polynesian song. Will was born in the small village of Turangi in the Cook Islands, where he grew up surrounded by music; the singing of his mother, his grandfather's wind-up gramophone, the ukeleles and handmade percussion of the local string bands.
In the 1960s, Will Crummer was a fixture in Auckland's music scene, performing at hotspots like The Orange Ballroom and The Reefcomber.
Annie, a New Zealand music star best-known for her vocals on kiwi classics like For Today and Melting Pot, has opened for and toured with global stars like Paul McCartney, Sting, and Michael Jackson.
Anna Coddington and Ria Hall will also bring their extraordinary musical stylings to the Te Tangi o Te Moana stage.
In addition, a group of artists travelling from Tahiti will perform for Te Tangi o Te Moana - Sounds of the Sea. The group's leader Ena Manuireva says:
"For us, this show is an important acknowledgement of the achievements of Tupaia who we believe laid the foundations of an unbreakable bond that now exists between Māori and Mā’ohi."
Ena says the first part of the show is about Mā’ohi cosmology, Tupaia's homeland of Ra'iatea and the battle in which Tupaia nearly died before escaping to Tahiti. The second part shows Cook's arrival in Tahiti (1769) and Tupaia's growing friendship with Banks. The third part shows Tupaia onboard the Endeavour helping navigate the ship to Ra'iatea.
In other Auckland Council-hosted events take place over Labour Weekend for Tuia 250 ki Tāmaki Makaurau, Aucklanders will hear stories of Auckland's voyaging history with new clarity. They will learn from the interpretation and analysis of our own mana whenua; historians and artists, taste Polynesian and Māori food, hear about the iconic Tupaia from his own people whose oral tradition has seen history pass down the generations, and step onboard a vessel from the flotilla.
For details of the free events on offer in Tāmaki Makaurau, visit: ourauckland.nz/tuia250.
