Our champion kapa haka group were strutting their stuff on the national stage on Thursday.
Te Reanga Morehu O Ratana, the Whanganui-Taranaki regional champs every year since 2008, were making their seventh appearance at Te Matatini, the national kapa haka championships.
The four-day festival is being held in the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park, renamed Kahungunu Park for the occasion, and the Ratana Pa-based group were in action early on day one.
The group is a pan-iwi collaboration with members from Ratana, Whanganui, Otaki, Wellington and Rotorua.
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The other Whanganui competitors at the festival, Te Matapihi, perform on Friday.