Te Aitanga a Hauiti ki Ūawa was the first of the Tairāwhiti groups perform before the masses of Te Matatini supporters in Pūtaringamotu. Reo Māori expert Dr Wayne Ngata, and leader of the group, shared his thoughts on the competition and the judging criteria at Te Matatini with Te Kāea recently. "That's the good thing about Te Matatini and I'm speaking about the competitions here on the East Coast. We've had the Tamararo Competitions for 60 years and it’s through competition that winners are made. The judges have a heavy task and we should appreciate that. They have to carefully evaluate the execution and reo in the each performance. That's something judges have to prepare for, not so much the performers. They need to be knowledgeable and competent."

Te Matatini 2015. Every two years, Te Matatini organises the Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival, where top kapa haka teams from New Zealand and Australia compete for the honour of being crowned the best of the best. The festival started in 1972 and is now the world’s largest celebration of Māori traditional performing arts, attracting over 30,000 performers, supporters and visitors. The competition is held over four days with 45 teams split into three pools, Te Ihu, Te Haumi and Te Kei. The three teams with the highest combined marks from each pool will compete in the competition finals. The nine finalists are then judged afresh to determine the new Toa Whakaihuwaka - overall agreggate winner. Kapa haka teams are required to perform six disciplines within their performance piece - whakaeke (a choreographed entry), mōteatea (traditional chant), poi (light ball swung on the end of a rope), waiata-ā-ringa (action song), haka and whakawātea (exit). They must perfect every discipline in a polished 30 minute performance.