Kingi Tuheitia and his wife Makau Ariki will be at Exhibition Park to watch 11 kapa haka teams from across Australia compete for the chance to travel to New Zealand for the Te Matatini national competition next year.

Kapa haka is a term for traditional Maori performing arts that include songs, chanting and the haka, a dance originally performed by warriors before battle but made famous internationally by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.

Yesterday the ACT kapa haka performers, aged from three upwards, and all from the Canberra region, performed for Minister for Arts and Multicultural affairs Joy Burch at the Dickson Tradies club.

Maori Performing Arts Australia chairman Isaac Cotter said it was a great honour to welcome to Canberra the king, who represents Maori people throughout the world, including more that 100,000 people in Australia.

Mr Cotter said kapa haka was an important way to ensure Maori children who were born in Australia learned about their heritage.

''Just because we hop on a plane from New Zealand it doesn't mean to say we leave our culture there,'' he said.

The ACT Kapa Haka performers rehearse weekly in Queanbeyan and Mr Cotter said it was a family environment in which everyone was encouraged to get involved.

He said he hoped the festival would help combat the perception that Maori artistic culture was about the haka dance alone.

The Kapa Haka Festival will kick off today with a smoking festival and welcome to country from members of the Ngunnawal Aboriginal people.

Tomorrow the teams of between 24 and 40 men, women and children will perform for 25 minutes each and will be judged on criteria including language, impact and choreography.

The Manawa-mai-tawhiti (Heartbeat From Afar) team from Western Australia will perform first, hoping to defend its title from the last competition, held in 2010.

Traditional Maori food, art and craft will also be available and tickets can be purchased at the door.