We were honoured to event manage the Whakaata Māori dawn ceremony marking their name change after 18 years as Māori Television. Whakaata Māori means ‘to mirror’, ‘to reflect’ or ‘to display’.

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The dawn service started at 6.00 AM with 200 leaders, iwi, the Māori broadcasting community and kaimahi gathering to celebrate the important milestone. From the unveiling of the new sign, the sit down breakfast, to the live entertainment, each part of the event was meticulously timed and executed in alignment with the live broadcast. Our team took care of everything from traffic management, talent and supplier management, right through to branded merchandise. This included gift packs for each guest, which featured individual Mini Tukutuku Toi Kits from Whatu Creative.

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Commissioned Mauri Stone

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As well as managing the dawn ceremony, Nui were responsible for commissioning a toka mauri or mauri stone which was unveiled at the ceremony by representatives of Te Kiingitanga. As an nod to Waikato-Tainui, the piece was cut from Hinurewa stone and carved in Kirikiriroa to feature the Whakaata Māori logo. From quarry to installation, the process of producing the mauri stone took an impressive nine days.

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