The annual Kīnura Music Festival, hosted by local NGO Kōrero o te ‘Ōrau (KO), took place at the National Auditorium on Friday, December 6, attracting a large audience of over 1000.

Dr Teina Rongo, chairperson of KO, said the event had significantly grown since its inception in 2018.

The music festival aims to showcase talented youth in KO’s ‘Ātui’anga ki te Tango programme and community, “to build the capacity of our AKTT youth and leads to run these types of events, and to promote our strong Christian heritage and give churches the opportunity to engage with our community”.

“Kīnura caters for all … whether you’re Christian, non-Christian, a cultural enthusiast or hip hop fan.”

‘Ātui’anga ki te Tango means connecting to the foundation – being the culture and natural resources of this special place we call home.

Kōrero o te ‘Ōrau has been running this programme since 2018 with junior and senior students during the holidays and offering an afterschool programme in 2024.

AKTT youth have also had the chance to connect with indigenous peoples and cultures across Oceania.

“The fundamental goal of the programme is to instil into our young people good core values that promote love of home as well as loving who they are and where they come from so that when they become our future leaders and decision makers, these values will play a huge role in the preservation of our culture, spirituality, and natural resources,” added Dr Rongo.

Kōrero o te ‘Ōrau secretary Jackie Rongo shared, “it certainly has been a year of strengthening connections within our country as well as with Hawai’i where we travelled in July visiting O’ahu, Maui, and Moloka’i. At the moment, some of our AKTT students and leads are in Tahiti – they flew out the day after Kīnura.”

This year’s Kīnura Music Festival had local acts including Manava Ura with Jackie Tuara, the Cook Islands Volleyball team, vivo playing kids, Ballet kids, FADC Kingdom Worship, Nikao CICC Youth, Teurua’a Goldsworthy, Halle Herman, and Resound Kids Choir run by local singer Talitha Horn.

AKTT student and recent winner of the Cook Islands Has Talent, Mama Ra Rongo, also performed alongside her sisters Konini and Myria as well as AKTT students from Atiu and Mangaia.

Most special of all were two guest artists who flew in to perform.

While busking to fundraise at the Punanga Nui Market earlier this year for their Hawai’i trip, AKTT Rarotonga students met up with Australia-based Cook Islander Tango Paerau (a.k.a. TangoBeatz) who was impressed with their ukarere skills. Tango subsequently ran a few lessons at KO’s base at the ‘Uritaua House in Avatiu and responded favourably to the request to perform at this year’s event.

Another special connection occurred for AKTT students on their Hawai’i trip on O’ahu after visiting BYU Hawai’i and the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). Following a spectacular night show at PCC, the team had the opportunity to interact with the performers and meet Myshaan, singer of the hit song “Sway”. Myshaan also graciously agreed to perform at this year’s event alongside the local youth.

According to the organisers, the Kīnura Music Festival 2024 was certainly a good wrap up for the year engaging with the audience through songs, dance and children’s activities. Most importantly, it gave a platform for local youth to build their capacity in music and performing arts as well as their confidence, and to produce and manage an event of this scale.

“We have been truly blessed to have made new connections and rekindle old connections made over twenty years ago,” Jackie Rongo said.

Rongo expressed how proud she was of the AKTT leads and students who worked hard behind-the-scenes to make this year’s show a success.

“Special shout out to Konini who managed the advertising, social media, organising and running practices with our tamariki, guest artists and local acts, creating the screen content on the night and more. Also, we sincerely appreciate our generous partners locally and internationally that make our AKTT programme and associated events like Kīnura possible each year,” Rongo said.