A dark, cold morning greeted the 35 people who’d stayed at Hakatere Marae on Saturday night to celebrate Matariki.

The clouds meant no star-gazing, but that didn’t dull spirits - especially when the lanterns came out.

Hakatere Marae held its Matariki stayover last weekend, inviting Mid Cantabrians to hui and spend the night at the Marae.

On Saturday, the marae ran a Hauora Health Day for women and children, where people could learn about staying healthy and get checked up.

About 30 people turned out for that.

“We had some really good support from the services that came,” marae chairperson Michelle Brett said.

“There was a focus on tamariki and wahine, so we had things like blood pressure tests, immunisations and cervical smears.”

Brett said the marae will hold a Hauora Health Day for men in September.

The Y Central South Island and Mid Canterbury Rugby ran games and activities before everyone cosied up in the wharenui for the night.

The next morning, families slowly woke up and donned their dressing gowns to face the morning.

Matua Tipene Philip opened the morning with a karakia, welcoming in the new year and requesting a year of good fortune.

Paper lanterns were passed around the crowd, and Philip reminded people the importance of the new year.

“With your lanterns, even though we don’t have the stars tonight, take some time to remember and acknowledge someone who’s not with us.”

With lanterns all sky bound, the crowd re-entered the marae for a warm cooked breakfast.

Liz Carrick, marae committee member and event organiser, was happy to see how many people had come out on a cold night.

“We’ve done markets in the past, but it felt like we were commercialising Matariki. So we wanted to bring it back to the community.”

The marae wants to continue the Matariki stayover and make it a yearly tradition.

“Matariki is the new year for all of us, across New Zealand,” Brett said.

Matariki is a star cluster, known elsewhere as the Pleiades or Subaru, and its rise in the New Zealand sky signified the end of the agricultural year for Māori traditionally.

While the public holiday of Matariki is this Friday, people across the country use the month to gather, remember those who’ve passed on and prepare for the year ahead.

By Anisha Satya