With the theme ‘Take Our Place’, Raglan rangatahi certainly did just that across a variety of activities for Youth Week. Youth week is an annual festival celebrating rangatahi across the motu, led by Ara Taiohi, an organisation that enables young people to create inclusive youth events across Aotearoa.
The week’s events in Whāingaroa began with Freedom to Fly offering a free gym session to 10 young people keen to try something new. Led by Jair, there were plenty of smiles, laughs and surely some sore bodies the next day!
Thursday night saw The Yard host a 16+ event, run by youth for youth. Featuring Rafiki, Star, Wavy State of Mind and Abstract Fish Lung, an enthusiastic crowd of about 30 enjoyed a variety of music from these talented local musicians. Artwork for the event was designed by Jasmine Anderson who also had a hand in the organisation of the event, so it was a full circle opportunity for youth to support each other to create this great event.
Friday saw The Refinery offer a wahine only session to 13 eager young women. Jonny put them through a fun and physical work out, with his words of wisdom thrown in as a bonus. It was awesome to see girls who were feeling a bit shy and nervous, relax and get stuck in as they got the gloves on and leant into the experience.
Once all the Saturday morning sports were over, The Raglan Community House hosted 16 rangatahi for Collage and Kai led by Tessa Skerman and Amy Hanna. With a room full of ‘junk’ to choose from, the collages were varied and creative. After a shared kai, everyone got to take home their canvas creation…many asking ‘when is the next one?’
Finally the week was topped off with The Amazing Race, with Jess Hill curating a fun, messy and challenging course of tasks across town for 11 teams, made up of 42 rangatahi aged 12-16. Stations were managed by a group of 8 awesome older rangatahi from Raglan Area School, who volunteered their time to support this event. The winning team of Amber, Georgie, Niamh, Indie and Mahlie came in with a time of 51 minutes. The win seems to have been secured by an almost inhale of a steak and cheese pie by Georgie at the eating station! Rangatahi enjoyed a sausage sizzle, many also leaving with prizes and some great stories from the afternoon.
Over 100 local rangatahi were involved across Youth Week, and certainly took their place in our beautiful community. Huge thanks have to go to the businesses who offered complimentary vouchers/kai to support these events – Raglan Bakery and Cafe, Aroha Sushi, Roll Up and Big Poppa’s Popcorn.
Also massive shout out to The Raglan Community House, Raglan Naturally, Whāingaroa Youth Collective, Ara Taiohi, Jess Hill, Tessa Skerman, Freedom to Fly, The Refinery, The Yard, and all the volunteers who cooked sausages, made cupcakes, and lent a hand to support our rangatahi during this fabulous week. Bring on Youth Week 2026!
