Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata Kapa Haka festival has taken precautions in light of the lockdown and Delta outbreak.
Photo: Ana Tovey / RNZ
The popular biennial festival, which attracts thousands of people, is set to be held in Tamaki Makaurau in February.
It is a huge event on the Māori calendar and chief executive of Te Matatini, Carl Ross, said it hadn't been too difficult to reorganise the festival to include safety precautions.
He said their priority was to look after whānau, hapu and iwi who will attend.
Organisers have created three strategies for the event and each one depends on alert levels.
The organisers have said if Aotearoa was at alert level 1 on 29 Friday October the festival will go ahead but if it's at level 2 or higher the festival will be postponed until April.
They believe the decision date will give teams enough time to prepare.
However, if the country is at alert level 2 or higher on Tuesday 14 December the festival will be cancelled for a year and will be held in February 2023.
Ross said they wanted to give performers and their whānau as much certainty as they could as it took a minimum of 12-14 weeks for Kapa Haka groups to prepare to perform on stage.
"Tiakina te whakapapa, tiakina te kapa haka hoki, that's what we're moving towards, looking after the wellbeing of our whānau, our hapu and our iwi, putting that at the forefront of everything," he said.
"It has to be a safe environment for those coming to attend the most prestigious Māori event that we have."
The organisers have encouraged all kaihaka, whānau, staff and attendees to have their covid vaccine before the festival and will have a vaccination site set to be in place at the festival grounds.
Te Matatini board chairperson, Selwyn Parata said the festival is a favourite time of year in the Māori events calendar and whānau from all over the motu attend.
But he said organisers wanted to ensure that the health and wellbeing of everyone involved was protected.
"This is the time to ensure our loved ones are safe, so we are encouraging everyone to get themselves and their whānau vaccinated," Parata said.
Ross said he was optimistic and looking forward to what the festival could bring if it does go ahead.
"What I'm really excited about is Te Matatini contributing to rebuilding our nation by having this festival and bringing people together."
"I think the whole motu can't wait for this to happen... it's going to be the biggest and the best festival that we've ever had."
Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata Kapa Haka festival is currently planned to be held at Eden Park/Ngā Ana Wai in February 2022.
