Holiday Calendar for New Zealand
New Zealanders observe 10 common national public holidays a year (also known as statutory holidays) legislated by the Holidays Act 2003. Stat holidays are mostly cultural, nationalistic, and religious holidays. Additionally all New Zealand’s provinces celebrate regional anniversary days also specified as public holidays.
Help us List of National and Provincial stat holidays, and other observances in NZ for 2024-2025 year
September 2024
October 2024
Sunday 13 October -
No Bra Day (On this day women are encouraged to forgo wearing no bra as a means to encourage breast cancer awareness)
November 2024
Friday 15 November -
Canterbury Anniversary Day in New Zealand (Date for 2024. Holiday is actually the 16th of December but it is observed on the second Friday after the first Tuesday in November. This is also Christchurch Show Day. Canterbury Anniversary applies to the North and Central Canterbury Regions which include Christchurch and Ashburton)
December 2024
January 2025
Thursday 2 January -
The second day of New Year (a holiday in Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Mauritius, Montenegro, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine. New Year Holiday [Albania, Scotland], if it is a Sunday, the day moves to January 3)
Monday 20 January -
Wellington Anniversary Day in New Zealand (Holiday is actually the 22nd of January but it is observed on the Monday closest to that date. Wellington Anniversary applies to the Wellington Province which includes Wellington, Whanganui, Palmerston North, Kapiti, Feilding, Levin and Masterton)
Monday 27 January -
Auckland Anniversary Day in New Zealand (Date for 2025. Holiday is actually the 29th of January but it is observed on the Monday closest to that date. Auckland Anniversary applies to the Auckland Province which includes Northland, Auckland, Waikato, King Country, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne, East Coast Regions);
Northland Anniversary Day in New Zealand (Date for 2025. It is a public holiday in Northland, where it is a day off for the general population, and schools and most businesses are closed)
February 2025
March 2025
Monday 10 March -
Taranaki Anniversary Day in New Zealand (Date for 2023. Holiday is actually the 31st of March but it is observed on the second Monday of March. Taranaki Anniversary applies to the Taranaki Region which includes Inglewood, Waitara, Hawera, Stratford, and Eltham)
April 2025
Friday 25 April -
Anzac Day (Australia, New Zealand, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Western Samoa. It commemorates the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - ANZAC - on the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915)
May 2025
Sunday 11 May -
Mother’s Day (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Dem. Rep., Congo, Rep., Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Gabon, Gambia, Greenland, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Vietnam, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe);
National Chocolate Fish Day in New Zealand June 2025
July 2025
Tuesday 1 July -
International Tartan Day (Tartan Day is a celebration of Scottish heritage on 6 April, the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320. It originated in Canada in the mid-1980s. It spread to other communities of the Scottish diaspora in the 1990s. In Australia the similar International Tartan Day is held on 1 July, the anniversary of the repeal of the 1747 Act of Proscription that banned the wearing of tartan. Tartan Days typically have parades of pipe bands, Highland dancing and other Scottish-themed events)
August 2025
September 2025
Some holiday traditions in New Zealand
Some of the holidays, like Christmas and New Year, are ’Mondayised’ . Which means that, if the holiday occurs on a weekend then it is transferred to the following Monday or Tuesday. On Good Friday, Easter Sunday, ANZAC Day, and Christmas Day there are special trading restrictions. On those days, generally only dairies, petrol stations, pharmacies, restaurants and cafes, and shops within an airport, train station, and in some very popular tourist towns may open. Even television advertising is totally banned on those days in the country.
Provincial anniversary days celebrate the founding days or landing days of the first colonists of the various colonial provinces. These are only celebrated within each province, not nationwide. The actual observance days can vary within each province and is due to local custom, convenience or the proximity of seasonal events or other holidays and may differ from the official observance day.
There are plenty of local and national New Zealand holidays and festivals throughout the year and the ones listed below are just the tip of the iceberg: Bluff Oyster & Food Festival in May, Queenstown Winter Festival in June, Matariki Festival, Rally New Zealand in August, Gisborne Wine & Food Festival in October, Wellington International Jazz Festival in November, Auckland Marathon in October, Caroline Bay Carnival in December.
