The brief

Faced with funding cuts, the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust in New Zealand turned to Haka, a traditional symbol of pride, unity and strength, to rally nation-wide support. The challenge? Reclaim the WORLD’S LARGEST HAKA title from the French and raise funds for RMTT. On 29th September 2024, more than 10,000 New Zealanders united at Eden Park Stadium, to set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORD™. “This historic moment not only brought the Haka record back to its rightful home but also achieved global awareness and raised much-needed funds for a charity to deliver life-changing music therapy to those in need.

Our nation building campaign made history and rewrote the rules. We reclaimed the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the World’s Largest Haka from the French, raising over NZ$500,000 for
Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust. Our efforts generated global awareness, securing 650+ media stories across 25 countries and five continents, with 174 million impressions in New Zealand alone. We engaged 2,500+ Microsoft Teams participants and set a TikTok Live record with 500K likes in an hour.

Most significantly our campaign led Guinness World Records to review its guidelines for records relating to indigenous cultures ensuring only those within the Māori culture can lead an attempt for Haka record titles. The French or any other culture, will never be able to take it off us.

Recognised as one of the BBC’s ‘Happiest Stories of 2024’, we created an unforgettable moment  and an experience of a lifetime for those who witnessed and participated in the world’s largest Haka.