The sound of waiata and the smell of hangi filled the air in most places Newshub visited on Monday to see how they were celebrating Waitangi Day.
Even Auckland overcame the weather to put on a bit of a show.
Porirua was partying at one of its biggest annual events with New Zealand chart-topping singer Rob Ruha serenading the crowd as they celebrated.
"We're celebrating Bob Marley's birthday," one person told Newshub.
Another person said: "We've just come down to watch a few performances and of course try and get some hangi."
A third said "[we] were just having fun enjoying time with family."
A family affair at Te Whanganui-a-tara, Wellington also got on board by shining a spotlight on some traditional Māori musical acts.
"I play taonga pūoro which is a traditional Māori instrument and I sing," Tararaua Music Group's Ariana Tikau told Newshub.
"There's a really intense kind of energy with election year as well as Waitangi Day so it's really nice to bring music and purakau and those deeper things that will always be there to the space of the day as well," Ruby from Tararaua Music Group said.
In Otautahi, Christchurch people saw waka on the water.
"We're getting people on the waka, teaching them about our narratives and history," Waka on the Avon's co-director Dave Brennan told Newshub.
Going on the waka allowed Cantabrians to take a hands-on approach to Waitangi.
"It's a great day to A - learn about our history, it's really, really important and B - embrace it," Brennan said.
And despite the rain ruining much of the past fortnight for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, a couple of events were able to go ahead.
"We were always going to go ahead to honour our stall holders, honour food providers who have had a really difficult year and also to honour our musicians," event organiser John Tamihere said.
Everybody coming together no matter the weather.
