Thousands of people are anticipated to converge on the National Auditorium (Are Kariori Nui) over the coming week, with months of planning and preparation behind the scenes.

Ministry of Cultural Development staff are putting the finishing touches on the auditorium as leaders from 18 nations converge for a series of meetings, starting with the opening ceremony, “Turou! Oro Mai!”, on Monday evening.

Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Development Emile Kairua was on site yesterday, alongside supporting staff.

Kairua said the auditorium and surrounding buildings would be the headquarters for the upcoming leaders’ meetings, and he was confident they were ready to host them.

The focus was to get “the house ready” to welcome them, he said.

“With the help of Infrastructure Cook Islands and the Cook Islands Investment Corporation we have been able to give this place a much-needed upgrade.”

For the Cook Islands, it was about understanding the background and the significance in having leadership in the Pacific, he said.

He named Henry Puna, Mark Brown and the late Albert Henry as examples.

On Monday the House of Ariki would play an integral role in welcoming the leaders and people in an “Our Voices, Our Choices, Our Pacific Way: Promote, Partner, Prosper” theme.

“We are going to see a mix of the past, modern technology, there will be a hybrid of live and pre-recorded performances.

“We have engaged known authorities on our culture; the level of expertise is actually quite young, which is good to see.”

Ministry of Cultural Development policy and research manager Jane Wichman-Poa, also on site at the auditorium yesterday, said there had been a number of “layers of different work to be completed”, starting about two months ago.

She anticipated about 1000 people would attend the opening ceremony on Monday.

Leaders are expected to arrive about 6pm followed by formalities at 6.30pm and dinner at 7.30pm.

Paramount chiefs would be in attendance as well as traditional leaders from across the Cook Islands.

“We will have our finest orators available.”

Wichman-Poa said it would be one of the bigger events the Ministry of Cultural Development had supported.

“We are confident; it hasn’t been a walk in the park.

“There is a lot more we could have done but we had to prioritise.”