Waitangi Day extra special for newest Kiwis

Forty-seven people from 19 different countries will swear allegiance to New Zealand tomorrow at a special Waitangi Day citizenship ceremony at Wairewa Marae in Little River.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel will conduct the first citizenship ceremony of the year, which will be the first ever held at the Wairewa Marae.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel greets a guest at last year's Waitangi Day citizenship ceremony with a hongi.

The 47 people receiving their citizenship at the ceremony have come from Greece, Ethiopia, Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Ukraine, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Great Britain, Australia, France, Slovakia, China, Fiji and Malaysia.

“Citizenship ceremonies are always special occasions. I always hold the first citizenship ceremony of the year on a marae on our national day, making this ceremony a particularly special one.

"Last year it was a Tuahiwi, the year before at Onuku, and this year I'm grateful to the Wairewa rūnanga for hosting us at their marae,'' the Mayor says.

The citizenship ceremony is not open to the general public but people looking for a way to celebrate New Zealand’s national day are invited to the Waitangi Day commemorations at Okains Bay.

An annual event for the past 43 years, the commemorations are organised by the Okains Bay Maori and Colonial Museum and start at 9.30am with the paddling of waka on the Ōpara River, followed by a pōwhiri at 10.30am, and then a hāngi lunch.

Throughout the day there will be demonstrations of traditional skills like breadmaking, blacksmithing and weaving, as well as activities for the children.

Another event being held to mark Waitangi Day is the I Love New Brighton family fun day at Thomson Park.

On from 11am to 3pm, this free family event celebrates everything we love about New Brighton and features live music, food stalls and lots of free activities for the kids including bouncy castles.

Christchurch City Council holds between 12 and 15 citizenship ceremonies each year.  Last year about 2300 people from 40 different countries became New Zealand citizens at one of those ceremonies.

One of the highlights of the Okains Bay Waitangi Day commemoration is the sight of waka coming down the Ōpara River.