Public Holidays in New Zealand 2026: Complete Guide for UK Travellers

Also on Bank Holidays UK: Christmas Day — Bank Holiday Date, Pay & Rules · Bank Holiday April 2026 — Easter Weekend · Summer Bank Holiday 2026 — August Bank Holiday Date

New Zealand sits near the top of many a British bucket list — a 24-hour flight away, but rewarded with fjords, glaciers, Middle-earth landscapes and some of the friendliest cities in the world. If you are planning the big trip in 2026, it pays to know the country’s public holidays before you go. Kiwi holidays reshape opening hours, ferry and domestic-flight timetables and accommodation prices, and a couple of them — Anzac Day and Christmas — bring nationwide shop-closing rules that can catch visitors out. This guide lists every public holiday in New Zealand for 2026, 2027 and 2028, explains New Zealand’s unusual “Mondayisation” rule, shows what stays open and what closes, and compares the Kiwi calendar with UK bank holidays so you can plan around the busiest dates.

Public Holidays in New Zealand 2026 — Full List

New Zealand observes eleven nationwide public holidays in 2026. Most are fixed to a set date or weekday, while Matariki — the Māori New Year, and the country’s newest public holiday, introduced in 2022 — is set each year according to the maramataka (the Māori lunar calendar) and always falls on a Friday. On top of these national days, each region also keeps its own provincial anniversary day, so the exact tally in any one place is twelve.

The dates above are the observed public holidays. Where a holiday marked in the Notes column falls on a weekend, New Zealand “Mondayises” it — the paid day off shifts to the next available weekday — which is why Anzac Day (Saturday 25 April 2026) is observed on Monday 27 April, and Boxing Day (Saturday 26 December) on Monday 28 December.

How “Mondayisation” Works

Public Holidays in New Zealand 2027 and 2028

Planning further ahead? Here are the confirmed nationwide public holidays for the following two years. Matariki dates are set in legislation — Friday 25 June 2027 and Friday 14 July 2028 — while the Mondayised dates for New Year, Waitangi Day, Anzac Day and the Christmas period shift with the calendar.

New Zealand Public Holidays 2027

New Zealand Public Holidays 2028

What’s Open and Closed on Public Holidays

On most New Zealand public holidays — New Year’s Day, Waitangi Day, Easter Monday, King’s Birthday, Matariki and Labour Day — banks and government offices close, but the majority of shops, cafés, restaurants, supermarkets and tourist attractions stay open. Public transport typically runs to a reduced Sunday timetable. Do be aware that hospitality businesses are legally allowed to add a surcharge (commonly 15%) on a public holiday to cover higher staff pay rates, and many display a notice to that effect.

Four periods each year are different, because they are restricted trading days when most shops must legally close: Good Friday, Easter Sunday, the morning of Anzac Day (until 1pm) and Christmas Day. On these days supermarkets, department stores and most retailers shut, although petrol stations, pharmacies, dairies (corner shops), garden centres, and cafés and restaurants in tourist areas are exempt and stay open. Anzac Day trading reopens from 1pm once the dawn services and marches are over.

How New Zealand’s Public Holidays Compare with UK Bank Holidays

The UK has eight bank holidays in England and Wales, nearly all secular and pinned to Mondays to guarantee three-day weekends. New Zealand’s calendar is fuller — eleven nationwide holidays plus a regional anniversary day — and blends Christian holidays shared with Britain, Commonwealth commemorations such as Anzac Day, and the uniquely Kiwi additions of Waitangi Day and Matariki.

For the full British calendar to plan around, see our guide to the list of UK bank holidays, and if you are mapping out trips around extended breaks, our overview of long weekends in 2026 is a useful companion. Because New Zealand and Australia share Anzac Day and a King’s Birthday holiday, our guide to public holidays in Australia is worth a look if you are combining both countries in one trip.

Key Cultural Holidays Explained

Waitangi Day, 6 February is New Zealand’s national day, marking the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the British Crown and around 540 Māori rangatira (chiefs). The main commemoration takes place at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in the Bay of Islands, with waka (canoe) ceremonies, kapa haka performances and speeches. It is both a celebration of nationhood and, at times, a focus for debate about the Treaty’s place in modern New Zealand.

Anzac Day, 25 April honours the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and all who have served, dating from the Gallipoli landings of 1915. New Zealanders gather before sunrise for dawn services at war memorials nationwide, followed by veterans’ marches. It shares its date and meaning with Australia and is one of the most solemn days in the Kiwi calendar — which is why shops stay shut until 1pm.

Matariki, New Zealand’s newest public holiday, celebrates the Māori New Year, which begins with the reappearance of the Matariki star cluster (the Pleiades) in the winter sky. It is a time for remembering those who have died, giving thanks for the harvest and looking to the year ahead, marked by hautapu ceremonies, feasting and community events. Introduced in 2022, it is the first public holiday to recognise te ao Māori (the Māori world), and its date is set each year in consultation with Māori astronomical experts.

Planning Your Trip Around Public Holidays

For big-occasion atmosphere, time your visit for Waitangi Day in the Bay of Islands, a dawn Anzac service, or Matariki in July when cities host light festivals and star-gazing events — just book accommodation early. If you would rather avoid the crowds and the highest prices, steer clear of the Christmas–New Year fortnight and the school summer holidays that run alongside it, when domestic tourism peaks and ferries and flights sell out. The shoulder months of March–April and October–November usually bring the best balance of settled weather, open attractions and manageable prices. If you are pairing New Zealand with a stop across the Tasman, our guide to public holidays in Australia covers the neighbouring calendar. Whenever you travel, securing accommodation, the Cook Strait ferry and any Great Walk bookings ahead of the peak dates will save both money and stress.

FAQ

Sources & Last Verified

This guide was compiled by cross-checking multiple sources to ensure accuracy:

• Nager.Date public holiday API — date.nager.at (New Zealand 2026)
• python-holidays library (full nationwide calendar, including Mondayised observed dates), cross-referenced date by date with Nager.Date for 2026, 2027 and 2028
• Matariki dates confirmed against the legislated schedule under New Zealand’s Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022 and independent listings (Office Holidays)

Last verified: 22 July 2026
Author: Bank Holidays UK Editorial Team