teen or sixteen groups in total is the maximum of course but some smaller districts might in future only qualify to send one team whilst larger districts might be permitted to send three. It is a point worth considering. Two other features are worthy of note. Not only was it wonderful to see the groups from the Pacific Islands performing with their New Zealand first cousins but the Island items were a welcome interlude to the long succession of Maori items. Secondly one must remark on the youth of the performers in almost all the teams. Very few ‘oldies’ took part and this is a wonderful pointer to the interest of our young people in their own culture and an effective counter to anyone to says that Maoritanga is on the wane. The major activity of the festival was the Maori Cultural Competitions in which each team was required to perform a group of items consisting of entrance, traditional item, action song, poi, haka and exit. There was also a separate choral competition in which each group presented one song. The record will enable many who were not fortunate enough to attend the festival to savour some of the award winning performances selected by arrangement with the NZBC. Although the stereo effect is not pronounced, the sound is good and the usual coughs and snuffles which detract from recordings of live performances, are mercifully absent. The Waihirere Club of Gisborne leads off Side One with a bracket of traditional items which includes an inspired performance of the great classical haka taparahi, ‘Kura Tiwaka Taua’. Waihirere certainly shows the form which won them the haka and traditional section of the competition as well as the Maori cultural aggregate. Fittingly they are followed by Ngati Poneke who were beaten by Waihirere by a whisker for the aggregate. Poneke's offering is their winning action song which although rather pedestrian when heard rather than seen, is sung with great feeling. The words are beautifully clear. Ngati Poneke's second item is a long poi ‘Poi Porotiti’ which, like their action song, was specially composed for the club by some of its young members. It is good to see young Maoris turning their hands to original composition rather than relying on tired old pops as vehicles for their words. The Waioeka Maori Club of Opotiki which was third in the cultural aggregate, features an original and interesting action song ‘Ko te Ro’ which has a very traditional ring to it and which represents a turning back to older themes—very worthwhile stuff. In complete contrast, the fourth place getters, South Taranaki Maori Club, churn out a poi item which is described on the cover as ‘composed’ by a member of the club. This is as may be as far as the words and actions are concerned but the tune is ‘Pretty Girl’—pure Pakeha pop—which is a pity. Nevertheless it is spirited and tuneful and obviously enjoyed immensely by the audience to judge from the applause on the record. Side Two features for the most part a sampling of the choral side of the Festival and contains some of the best Maori and Polynesian choir singing on record for a long time. The first place getters, Te Kauri Maori Club of Auckland, sing Evan Stephens' ‘Kia Kotahi Tatou’. This is a splendidly disciplined performance with well rounded singing and delicate degrees of light and shade. Recalling the irritating noise in the hall on the actual night which bedevilled all the choir singing, we must be grateful that the extraneous noise seems to have been filtered out of the recording to a large extent. Ngati Poneke's ‘E Te Matou Matua’ (The Lord's Prayer) is an interesting contrast. They were second place getters in the choral. The item is less vivacious than Te Kauri's but there is good opportunity for solid rich harmony and fine graduations of volume. The Auckland Samoan Group—third equal in choral competition—provides a beautifully sung traditional item ‘Mua O’. The style of singing is somewhat different to that of the Maori groups but no less effective. It is rich in its texture, and there are some delightfully contrasting passages between male and female voices. The final choral number and the one I enjoyed best was from South Taranaki with a sprightly version of ‘Te Ariki’. There is some excellent canon singing and the voices are well controlled with some lovely harmonies except for a rather sour final ‘amine’. The final item is Waihirere's action song ‘Te Arawa, Nahau Ra te Karanga’, an origin-