Fund supports fifty-seven Waitangi Day events

The Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund is supporting fifty-seven events this year across New Zealand in celebration and commemoration of Waitangi Day.

Events range from formal dawn karakia throughout the country, through to a whanau fun day in Tokoroa, a waka race on the Whanganui River, a multicultural community festival in Porirua, a Waitangi Day film festival in Takaka and a fun fair on the Chatham Islands.

The Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund is designed to encourage a wider spread of communities to take part in Waitangi Day celebrations. It supports events which bring together themes of nation building, community building and partnership. The Fund also makes a substantial contribution to official celebrations at Waitangi, Bay of Islands. The 2004 Fund allocation is $290,680.

The Fund is administered by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage which assessed applications under criteria such as encouraging community participation and achievement, promoting a cultural experience and event, and providing participants with an opportunity to learn more about the Treaty of Waitangi.

Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Helen Clark will attend events in the Bay of Islands marking Waitangi Day on the afternoon of 5 February and the morning of 6 February.

A full list of events receiving support is available online: www.mch.govt.nz/heritage/waitangi/

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For further information contact:

Catriona Robertson
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Tel (06) 308 8852 / 021 243 2058

Caroline Toplis
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Tel (04) 496 6352