Let the spirit take you
Words Luke Williamson
Tucked away on the shores of the sparkling Kaipara Harbour, are two ex-dairy farms that are in the process of being regenerated and repurposed into a biodiverse region with organic market gardens, native forest, a concert and festival venue, and an off-grid eco village. The project is being directed by Franko Heke, one of the team behind music and wellness festivals, NZ Spirit Festival and Resolution.
After six years of steady growth and success, the festivals have found their spiritual homes at Ariki Estate and neighbouring property, Tūmanako. “I put together a bunch of friends I had met through running the festivals and bought Tūmanako two-and-a-half years ago,” says Franko.
Work began on converting the 120-acre goat milking farm into a property of food plants and native forest. For Franko and the team, it's about healing the land and opening it back up to its natural purposes, and working with local iwi as well. Ngāti Whātua are big supporters of what they're doing, and representatives have blessed the land and helped open the festivals.
“The festivals are awesome little ecosystems, but they only last four days and I wanted to actually live this way,” explains Franko. “NZ Spirit creates such an amazing environment where everyone coexists with a feeling of trust, empathy and consistent safety. It gives me hope for humanity again.”
While the early success of regenerating Tūmanako was pleasing, Franko found himself coveting the neighbouring property. “Every day, I was sitting on my yoga mat doing my practice and I could see the adjacent farm with its beautiful mountain, and I knew we needed that extra bit of land. It was calling to me,” he laughs. “We bought that farm with another group of friends and called it Ariki Estate.”
Ariki Estate will serve as car parking and camping space for the festivals, and Tūmanako will be where the festivities take place. “They complement each other beautifully,” says Franko. “Ariki has an incredible original native forest with a mountain, a spring, rockpools and little waterfalls.”
The project has attracted the attention of Suzy Cameron, wife of director James Cameron. “Suzy has come on as executive producer of a documentary we are making called Regeneration,” says Franko. “It’s going to be shot for another year so we can show how we’ve come from nothing to something, and should be out worldwide at the end of 2024.”
Having just added a Christchurch Spirit Festival to the program, Franko’s schedule is fairly full. “Three festivals a year is a massive undertaking,” says Franko. “But I love galvanising people and bringing them together in these incredible environments.”
The next step in Franko’s big plan is to create a large retreat centre and holistic health clinic. There are also discussions around creating a marae and Māori education centre. However, the near future is all about preparing Ariki and Tūmanako for this summer’s festivals. “Kaipara Moana Trust gave us 20,000 trees and we’re really grateful to them. So we’re planting those, building composting toilets and doing general farm clean up. It’s massive, but we’ve got an amazing crew of people making it happen.”
Franko is looking forward to seeing everyone at Resolution and NZ Spirit Festival. “Come and learn some things about yourself, take a workshop, celebrate with excellent Kiwi music, try the amazing food selection, and just connect with this beautiful environment.”