Maori living in Canberra are this week hosting the Australian regional kapa haka festival during which the top performers will be selected for the prestigious Matatini Kapa Haka Festival in Rotorua in 2013.
The ACT Maori Performing Arts Corporation won the right to re-host the two-day event, which opens on 23 March.
Eleven cultural groups will be taking part in the festival, which in 2010 was declared the most successful Maori cultural festival in Australia.
Chairman of Maori Performing Arts Australia Isaac Cotter says the last festival proved to be very successful and this year they're hoping to make it even bigger and better.
He says he is very excited about the opportunity to host Australia's largest Maori cultural festival and he hopes to ride off the back of the achievement in 2010.
