Tākina Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre has marked a major milestone in the lead up to its highly anticipated opening, by handing over the keys to Wellington City Council. 

The name Tākina means ‘to invoke or encounter’, and was gifted by Taranaki Whānui, the local Maori, to reflect the building as a place people come together to connect and collaborate in the capital. The ceremony, which took place this week, was attended by Taranaki Whānui representatives who officially blessed the building.

This week’s activities also welcomed Tākina Events, the operator of the venue, to start a rigorous schedule of testing and training ahead of a very busy few months ahead.

With the Centre due to officially open end of May, and test events taking place earlier in May, Wellington City Council’s focus is now on the internal technical fit-out to prepare the venue for its first conference and exhibition.

“With more than 100 events on the calendar for the first year, the majority of which are multi-day conferences between 300 and 1,000 delegates, our team is excited to be on site to get to know every square centimetre, bit of equipment and technology,” Te Papa director of commercial services, Jake Downing said.

The ground-floor public Exhibition Gallery will open on Saturday 3 June with the internationally acclaimed LEGO interactive exhibition, Jurassic World by Brickman on display.

Almost 500,000 people are expected to visit Tākina in its first year based on the line-up of conferences and events already in place.