Among the crowd were the families of those who died, people still displaced from their homes, and students from Hukarere Girls' College and Omahu School, both of which were devastated by floodwaters.
The sun shone as people laid wreaths in the fountain, while Hastings ambassador and former city councillor Henare O'Keefe read out the names of the 11 people who died as a result of the storm. A minute's silence was observed at midday.
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell attended with Tukituki MP Catherine Wedd.
Mitchell said one of his memories of the immediate aftermath was arriving in Wairoa, two days after the storm, and hearing about the rescues carried out by local farmers and the depth of the silt around the homes.
"I make a commitment to you, in my new role with emergency management and also recovery, the rest of New Zealand has not forgotten you," he said.
"We know that it's not over, we know that there's still a lot of work to do."
"We have cleared more than half of the silt and debris. We have built 10 temporary bridges, started rebuilding two permanent bridges, and repaired many kilometres of roading. But there is years of investment needed to fully fix 1600km of damaged rural roads."
Patoka resident and rural community board member Isabelle Crawshaw said their strength was in their sense of community.
"Sometimes our adversity becomes greatness, and the greatness was the strength and camaraderie of our rural communities. He tangata he tangata he tangata. It's the people, it's the people, it's the people."
The children of Omahu School performed a waiata, written for them by a former principal. Their school was destroyed, but they returned for the start of the school year.
Teacher Keita Tuhi said they took the performance in their stride. "They rose to the occasion," she said. "With a few 'come on, come on, hurry up!'"
She said they would be off for a swim down at the Ngaruroro River that afternoon - the same river which flooded the school still holding a place in their hearts.
