The countdown is on for Ka Mua, Ka Muri – a day to connect, learn, reflect and celebrate our profession.
As celebrants, we spend so much time helping others mark their milestones. This November, there’s an opportunity to pause and celebrate one of our own.
The countdown is on for Ka Mua, Ka Muri – Honouring the Past, Inspiring the Future, a day to connect, learn, reflect and celebrate our profession on Sunday 22 November 2026.
The occasion marks 30 years since formal celebrant training and the Certificate in Celebrant Studies began in Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s a chance to acknowledge the people who helped shape celebrant education and consider where we go from here.
Looking back, thinking ahead
The Celebrant School’s founding director, Mary Hancock, will join the gathering to reflect on the past three decades. Australian celebrant educator Wendy Haynes will lead a workshop, and the programme will explore the future of ceremony and ritual, including the possibilities and questions raised by AI. There will also be time to celebrate graduates and others reaching milestones in their celebrant journeys.
Whether you’re new to celebrancy or have years of experience behind you, taking time to be with others who understand the work can be refreshing. Those conversations offer space to share ideas, renew connections and remember what drew us to this profession.
The Celebrant School director Kathrine Fraser said, “We will gather in a building considered a national treasure, and a best-kept secret in Auckland.”
“There won’t be another event like this for years, so enrol now if you don’t want to miss out.”
Make a day of it
The gathering takes place at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae at Unitec, Mt Albert, Auckland, with free parking on site.
Choose the full day, 10am–5pm, for $225 including GST, or the afternoon celebration, 2.30pm–5pm, for $95 including GST. An optional dinner at Nomad in Pt Chevalier follows at 5.45pm, costing $55 for food, with drinks extra.
Come ready to reflect, reconnect and help celebrate this special chapter in celebrancy.
Find out more and enrol on The Celebrant School website, or phone Kathrine on 021 681 958 with any questions.
