Green Two Years Ago

An unexpected encounter with a local fan of Māori kapa haka at the 2026 Nan Ying International Folklore Festival.

We were marching back to Nan Ying Hall after a parade watched by more than 35,000 locals. Te Hau Tawhiti were among the last teams back, behind 21 other international groups and 12 from Taiwan.

I caught my breath in the October heat of Tainan. My phone buzzed in my pocket, probably fifty messages by now. The first performance was done.

A middle-aged man, rather nerdy-looking, came running after me. He held two brochures: this year’s festival programme and one from two years ago, both open to the pages showing the Māori teams.

He told me he was a fan of Māori performance. He had been looking for the performers he’d seen two years ago and couldn’t find any. He was also puzzled by the costumes. “They were green two years ago,” he said.

I explained that there are many kapa haka groups, and this year’s was a new one. He nodded, said he really liked their performance, and asked whether he could have some signatures to keep as a memory.

I looked at his face in disbelief. Eccentric, I thought, or maybe he had some other purpose. I told him I would take this year’s brochure inside and ask the performers pictured in it to sign. He happily agreed and handed me a golden pen.

Inside, collecting the signatures took a long while. When I came out, there he was, still standing quietly in front of the glass door, patiently waiting, while the chaos of the festival ran through him.

I handed back the brochures, open to the pages of golden signatures. He smiled and walked away.

After a week of post-festival flu, an eye infection and an upset stomach, I can finally feel again. I am thinking of the golden signatures on the page. And I have tears in my eyes.