Te Runanga o Ngati Porou has organised the annual Ngati Porou Inter Marae Sports Festival since 1995.  This 1-day event is a time to celebrate family values and kinship in a fun atmosphere of friendly competition and healthy lifestyle.

The Festival is also an icon for those families coming home for the Christmas break and is becoming more popular every year.  The 2008 Festival was held in Ruatoria and attracted over 5000 people, and we expect that the festival in years to come will attract the same numbers and more.

To our knowledge this is the only Iwi sports festival run on this scale, this was reaffirmed by the 2006 festival being nominated and winning the 2006 Maori Sports Award for Community Initiative.

The kaupapa of all Ngati Porou Annual Sporting & Cultural Events is to:

• Celebrate our Ngati Poroutanga
• Strengthen our whanaungatanga as Ngati Porou
• Provide a positive and novel opportunity for whanau to interact within a broader Ngati Porou context
• Create a fun, relaxed and safe environment for whanau to play together
• Promote healthy life style practices
• Increase Ngati Porou whanau and hapu participation in sports and recreation activities
• To celebrate in a manner which celebrates our uniqueness as hapu/marae while recognising our collectivity.