New Zealand Day 1974

Prime Minister Norman Kirk wanted the first New Zealand Day (which involved a royal visit) to acknowledge the country's multi-cultural identity. A two and a half hour extravaganza - Aotearoa - depicted the country's journeying towards nationhood and the part played by peoples of many cultures on this great voyage of discovery.

The arrival of Kupe (played by Howard Morrison) was followed by English, Irish and Scots (to the tune 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord'), Dalmatians, Danes, Dutch, and other European races, as well as by Pacific Islanders and Indians.

Some of the country's successes and troubles were captured in adaptations of well-known melodies, which added a touch of either humour or poor taste. Viewed at Waitangi by 20,000 spectators, and on television (as was becoming a tradition) by one of the biggest audiences of the year, the event drew some criticism.

'Imaginative pageantry or tasteless vulgarity?', asked the New Zealand Herald. 'Had [viewers] seen a superb, imaginative translation of orthodox history to a modern (and musical) idiom? Or was it an embarrassing, superficial, even excruciating attempt to mix cabaret (or music hall) with ceremony?' Certainly there had been something for everyone: Maori groups, the Royal Navy, a sort of white robed Greek chorus, choreographed dancers, fireworks, national dancing and singing, mime and pantomime. One especially memorable piece was a giant moa that laid an enormous egg on the spot where the treaty was signed.

Important symbolic touches were not overlooked: the New Zealand flag replaced the Union Jack at the top of the Waitangi flagpole, a replica of the 1834 flag was flown, and the great canoe, Nga-toki-mata-whao-rua, was relaunched. Kirk's spontaneous gesture when he took a small Maori boy by the hand as he moved to the speakers' rostrum somehow became a symbol of New Zealand's hope for the future. Almost overlooked in all the fuss were incidents - a bomb was laid, and fires were lit.