Photos: Smoke Photo and Video.
The world record for the largest haka is back where it belongs – in Aotearoa New Zealand.
More than 6500 people took part in a performance of Ka Mate at Eden Park. The event to reclaim the record came after it had been held for a decade by France. Following a rugby match in Brive-la-Gaillarde back in 2014, 4028 people performed a haka that made it into the record books.
The organisers of the Auckland attempt to break the record energised the crowd with performances. Local acts including Six60, the Topp Twins and Tami Neilson took the stage.
Then came the big moment, and after the thousands of enthusiastic participants – including film director Taika Waititi, 49, and his TV host pal Conan O’Brien, 61, who was visiting from the US – performed Ka Mate four times to meet the time-length criteria, a Guinness World Records adjudicator confirmed we’d smashed it, with 6531 people taking part.
See a few photos of the record-breaking event below
TV presenters Jenny-May Clarkson, Mātai Smith and Stacey Morrison joined in the historic event.
Six60’s Matiu Walters and filmmaker Taika Waititi helped US comedian Conan O’Brien learn about te ao Māori.
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