In pics: Hundreds of fires light up Hawke’s Bay beaches as region turns on Matariki spectacle

Hundreds of fires of cyclone driftwood – lit by families, friends and professionals alike – created a Matariki spectacle on a scale not seen before in Hawke’s Bay on Saturday night.

An event called Matariki Mahuika was given rare permission by Fire and Emergency NZ and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, allowing families to light fires in across the sixty kilometres of coastline from Cape Kidnappers to Tāngoio to celebrate the holiday.

Hyped as a ring of fire around Hawke’s Bay, it lived up to it, with a 10-metre-long driftwood sculpture of Māui’s fishhook near the National Aquarium of NZ (the hook representing the Māori name of Hawke’s Bay Te Matau-a-Māui) the showpiece of the night.

Concerns were raised beforehand about the potential for environmental and health impacts of the inaugural event, but the calm night with a slight offshore wind provided what appeared to be ideal conditions.