
Get Extra Close To The Stars This Matariki At The Sky Tower – Kids Are Free!
The Sky Tower will open in the pre-dawn morning over Matariki weekend to give customers a chance to see the Matariki cluster rising.
From the Main Observation Deck, visitors will be pointed to the east where the Matariki constellation will rise over the horizon and all kids aged 14* and under will get in free all long weekend.
'A lot of us are keen to learn more about Matariki and we wanted to play our part by bringing the experience to the Sky Tower, where you can't get any closer to the stars in Tamaki Makaurau!" says SkyCity's Chief Operating Officer Callum Mallett.
'We have a few fun activities planned for tamariki and whānau throughout the day including helpful information on where to locate the stars, and much more.'
The Sky Tower will also host a stunning laser light show by renowned Māori artists, Graham Tipene and duo Lissy & Rudi, projected onto the side of the tower, symbolising the community's dreams and aspirations rising to the stars.
The laser display will feature flowing animated light that ascends up the tower, evoking the movement of wishes reaching the heavens, just as the star Hiwa-i-te-rangi is said to carry our hopes and desires to the sky. The tower will be bathed in pink lighting and adorned with feathers and koru projections, representing the themes of healing and connection central to Matariki.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Listener's Song of the Week: ‘It seems 2025 has got its own Poi E'
Matariki Hunga Nui – Calling Me Home by Troy Kingi, Rob Ruha, Kaylee Bell Well, it seems like 2025 has got its own Poi E. Written by Troy Kingi, Rob Ruha, Kaylee Bell and Professor Rangi Mātāmua (the rangatira of Māori astronomy), this is a big-hearted country-soul waiata


Otago Daily Times
4 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Community spirit shines
For the 16th year in a row, Kahu Youth will be igniting the community spirit on Matariki day with performances, traditional food and storytelling. The appearance of the Matariki cluster of stars is a significant event in the Maramataka, marking the Māori New Year. These stars, also called Pleiades, become visible in June. The Maramataka is deeply connected to the environment, particularly the ocean and its tides, as the moon influences them. In 2022 Matariki became an official public holiday in Aotearoa, but Kahu Youth had already taken the lead on the celebration with an event that began in 2010. The Wānaka Matariki celebration had humble beginnings with just a potluck meal and some storytelling. It has since flourished into a local highlight, complete with local kapa haka, Māori storytelling about Matariki from local kaumātua Darren Rewi and a traditional hangi feeding over 600 people. Kahu Youth operations director Anna Sutherland said despite the event growing over time, some things had not changed. "The thing that has stayed the same is that this event has been run by community spirit," she said. For her, the value of the celebration was its ability to bring the Upper Clutha community together and teach local rangatahi about Māori heritage. Ms Sutherland said around 30 young volunteers were involved this year in the making of the event, giving them the opportunity to learn more about Māori history. "It's really inclusive, and it allows everybody to be involved and learn. So, through that it brings diversity and respect for other cultures," Ms Sutherland said. Leading up to the big day, the event has strung together a network of groups eager to contribute such as the local primary and secondary schools, Te Kakano Trust and the Mana Tahuna Trust which provides support for migrant communities in the lakes district. The seven kapa haka groups performing are from across the region, including groups from Wānaka Primary School, Hāwea Kindergarten and Matariki Tupu Hou, an inclusive group of young and adult performers. Chairman of the Mana Tahuna Charitable Trust Darren Rewi will be doing Māori storytelling relevant to the Lakes region. "Because we're surrounded by the mountains, the arrival of Puanga, which is another star, is what the local tribe used to focus on rather than the Matariki constellation because it sits so low," Mr Rewi said. He highlighted the importance this knowledge has for all attendees, especially young people and the immigrant community. The Matariki or Pleiades constellation holds a special place in many indigenous cultures and Mr Rewi believed this presented a unique opportunity to bring together different ethnic groups across the whole region. "What we find is that a fair amount of people that listen to those stories are overseas visitors," he said. "It gives them an understanding of why New Zealand is celebrating Mātariki and why it's worthy of a holiday." As well as enjoying the new year, the event also aims to represent the values of this holiday, which includes honouring the past, celebrating the present and having hope for the future. Despite the growth of this celebration over the years, the event has managed to maintain respect for the environment and uphold the principles of Matariki. "We don't want this event to be commercialised or about stuff," Ms Sutherland said. "It's about people and place." Set to take place at the Dinosaur Park from 2pm, the celebration will also include a weaving workshop, a lakefront bonfire and a community waiata from 5:30pm.


Otago Daily Times
4 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Waimate artist's work in Met exhibit
Waimate-based artist Fiona Pardington at the Elephant Rocks near Duntroon in the Maerewhenua Valley. PHOTO: MEEK ZUIDERWYK Esteemed Waimate artist Fiona Pardington ONZM is riding a career high. Pardington was recently made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to photography around the same time as her artwork became part of the permanent collection in the Arts of Oceania Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Arts of Oceania exhibit, overseen by Māori (Ngāi Tai) curator Dr Maia Nuku and curators for the Arts of Oceania at The Met, is part of a significant transformation at the museum, which houses the collections of the Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania. Her work is featured among more than 650 works representing 140 cultures from around Oceania, including Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. Pardington was excited to attend the official opening night of the reopening of the gallery last month. "This is kind of a big deal for a person like me. "I don't even really have words for how it makes me feel because I'm not even sure. I'm just feeling quite surprised. "A big black tie dinner and all these super-famous people and I'm going, 'oh my God'." Pardington was among seven invited Māori and Pasifika artists to attend the reopening supported by Creative New Zealand. Before the opening night she received another surprise. "You never really imagine you're going to be sitting in New York and attending something like this and then to receive an email saying you're in the New York Times today. "I mean, it's just a little mention, but it's awesome," she said. Earlier this year, the South Canterbury-based artist, a photographer of Maori (Ngai Tahu, Kati Mamoe and Ngati Kahungunu) and Scottish (Clan Cameron of Erracht) descent, was also selected to represent New Zealand at the Venice Biennale next year. She said New Zealand was "a tiny little place full of very powerful creativity" and to be selected for the biennale was a "great honour". " I am really going to do my best to uphold the honour that has been bestowed upon me." Pardington recently announced the name of her exhibition, "Taharaki Skyside". She said her work built on the content of her 2024 series Te taha o te rangi, "the edge of the heavens", which consists of photographs of Aotearoa New Zealand birds preserved as taxidermy specimens in museum collections. Pardington is known for her investigation of traditional and forgotten objects in her still-life photography and her focus on taonga, such as the hei tiki and the extinct huia. She said her relationship with birds was "very personal". "Birds can symbolise familial love, romantic attachment, ecological warnings — they can be intimations of mortality — and in my work they can also represent individual people in my life," Pardington said. In 2011, Pardington became a New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate, and in 2016 was named a Knight (Chevalier) in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French prime minister, the first New Zealand visual artist to receive this honour. Since 2017, Pardington has represented New Zealand at the London Art Fair and Art Basel Hong Kong, participated in the 2018 major international exhibition "Oceania" at London's Royal Academy of the Arts, and was the first New Zealander invited to participate in the Sharjah Biennial 16 in the United Arab Emirates in 2024. Despite all her career successes she remains grounded and says persistence is key. "You really don't want to get a big head and start thinking that you're special, because everybody's got talents. "And people that work hard and persevere and push through — if you want to do something, you just stick to your guns and keep going."