For almost the last 20 years, Te Rangi Huata from Ngāti Kahungunu has been putting his creative talents to use and co-ordinating brilliant fireworks displays - pyro musicals or music to fireworks.
He says the joy it brings to all those that watch it, makes the countless hours of work behind the scenes all worth it.
He says, “My name is Te Rangi Huata and I love fireworks since I was a little kid and I love blowing things up and now that I'm in my sixties I still love blowing things up. I'm a pyromaniac and I love everything to do with fireworks.
For every one minute of fireworks that we put up in the air, it's five hours of work and it's hard to believe the amount of work, but when you love doing something, you put your time into it.
There's a lot of symbolisms in it and even though the public don't know the symbolisms, we know what the symbols are and we know that this is basically blessing our community.”
Jeremy MacLeod says, “Te Rangi Huata is the embodiment of a humble heart. He is passionate about people and passionate about events like this and because of his passion we are able to enjoy such great events like he has helped make happen.”
Crystal Edwards says, “We are always impressed with his fireworks displays, they are awesome! It's almost as if we're in America and on Independence Day except it's right here in New Zealand in Kahungunu. His fireworks really are beautiful when they light up the night sky.”