57 Kapa Haka face revised draw process for Te Matatini o Ngā Taniwha 2027

The road to Te Matatini o Ngā Taniwha 2027 reaches a critical juncture this week as 57 of the nation’s top kapa haka prepare for a landmark Live Draw at Tūrangawaewae Marae. This event will officially set the competition pools for the upcoming national festival, implementing a revised format designed to elevate fairness and competitive balance.

For the estimated 2,000+ performers, the Live Draw marks the moment their regional success becomes a tangible step toward the national stage. Te Matatini Chairman, Tā Herewini Parata, described the event as the moment the festival “truly comes to life,” allowing kapa to visualise their path to the finals, known as Te Matangirua.

“Qualifying for Te Matatini is an extraordinary achievement, earned through months of dedication, discipline and collective effort,” Parata said.

Te Matatini’s National Board has introduced a revised system for the 2027 festival to ensure consistency across the competition. The new methodology ensures that the 57 qualified groups – who emerged from 13 regional competitions across Aotearoa and Australia – are distributed as evenly as possible across four competition pools: Te Ihu, Te Haumi, Te Awa, and Te Kei.

The seeding protocol prioritises structural balance:

Tiered Seeding: The top 12 performers from the 2025 festival are distributed first to ensure an even spread of experience across all pools.
Ranking Protection: Kapa ranked 13th to 20th are then carefully placed to prevent high-ranked groups from clustering within the same pool.
Randomised Completion: Remaining qualifying groups are then drawn randomly to fill the remaining spots.

This structured approach is specifically designed to eliminate the perception that one pool is stronger than another, ensuring that every group faces a balanced field of experienced finalists and rising competitors.

The event will be hosted by Te Arikinui, Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, patron of Te Matatini at Kimiora, the cultural heart of Tūrangawaewae Marae.

With independent scrutineers overseeing the process to guarantee transparency, the draw serves as a public declaration of the competition layout before the festival commences in February 2027. You can watch the draw on Te Matatini and Kiingitanga platforms from 10am.

Here are the Kapa haka that have qualified from our regions:

Tainui Kapa Haka qualifiers