Wellington's CBD rang with te reo songs as 5000 people paraded to celebrate Māori Language Week on Monday morning.

About 200 schools registered to take part in the event, and 24 floats took part in the procession as it made its way down Lambton Quay and Willis St, before turning into Civic Square.

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo (Māori Language Commission) chief executive Ngahiwi Apanui said he was thrilled at the turnout and reception.

GED CANN/STUFF Te Kura Māori o Porirua led the crowd into Civic Square, performing a wero.

"This is what makes our work worthwhile – seeing the people turn out, seeing the schools, seeing the children, and people from all walks of life engaging with the language and showing their love for it," Apanui said.

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The New Zealand Attitudes and Values Survey reflected a growing acceptance and embracing of te reo, Apanui said.

GED CANN/STUFF Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori chief executive Ngahiwi Apanui addresses the crowd at the Māori Language Parade.

"They are saying 42 per cent of New Zealanders are positive about Māori language being taught in school, a further 44 per cent are neutral, and only 14 per cent appose."

A number of partnerships formed in recent years also showed there was a strong future for the language.

These included the Say It Tika campaign, run in partnership with Vodafone and Google, which aims to correct place names and their pronunciation.

GED CANN/STUFF The crowd of 5000 left the cenotaph on Lambton Quay at 11am.

The pōwhiri, or traditional welcome, of the parade as it entered Civic Square was by Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna from Seatoun.

Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti, New Zealand's current champions in kapa haka, also performed in the parade.