Is Easter Tuesday a holiday?
Is Easter Tuesday a holiday in New Zealand? Dates 2026 to 2028
| Year | Good Friday | Easter Monday | Easter Tuesday | School calendar on Easter Tuesday | Southland Anniversary observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Term 1 holidays | Easter Tuesday () | |||
| 2027 | Term 1: schools closed for Easter Tuesday | Easter Tuesday () | |||
| 2028 | Term 1 holidays | not yet published for 2028 |
Easter Tuesday is a school holiday in the Ministry of Education calendar, but it is not a national public holiday listed in the Holidays Act 2003. That distinction matters when arranging care: a school closure does not necessarily mean a parent or caregiver has the day off work. It often falls within the holidays after Term 1 anyway. Southland has a separate reason for observing the day, as its anniversary holiday normally falls on Easter Tuesday. Private schools may open, so their arrangements need checking directly. The school and regional entries on this page help separate these overlapping reasons for a closure.
Two different lists
Schools follow the Ministry of Education calendar, which closes schools on Easter Tuesday. Workplaces follow the Holidays Act, whose list of public holidays has Good Friday and Easter Monday but not the Tuesday. In Southland the regional anniversary day is normally observed on Easter Tuesday, so there it is a public holiday after all: see Southland Anniversary Day.What the Ministry of Education says
In the words of the Ministry of Education:
Where possible, we align the end of the first term with the Easter holidays. This can make Term 1 shorter or longer depending on when Easter falls.
During a school term, schools will close for:
Saturdays and Sundays
teacher-only days
public holidays and local anniversary days
the Tuesday following Easter Monday
any emergency that requires the school to close.
Extract from section 44 of the Holidays Act 2003
In the words of the Holidays Act 2003 (legislation.govt.nz):
The following days are public holidays:
Christmas Day:
Boxing Day:
New Year's Day:
2 January:
Waitangi Day:
Good Friday:
Easter Monday:
ANZAC Day:
the birthday of the reigning Sovereign (observed on the first Monday in June):
Labour Day (being the fourth Monday in October):
the day of the anniversary of a province or the day locally observed as that day.
Matariki was added to this list by Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022. Easter Tuesday does not appear in it.
Common questions
- Do I get Easter Tuesday off work?
- Not automatically because it is Easter Tuesday. It is not a national public holiday, although Southland normally observes its anniversary holiday then. Check the regional entry in the table and your workplace arrangements.
- Why are schools closed on Easter Tuesday?
- The Ministry’s calendar includes Easter Tuesday as a school holiday for state and state-integrated schools. The table shows its place in the school year, including whether it is already within the term break.
- Can a school open on Easter Tuesday?
- A private school may open because it can set its own calendar. The school-date table reflects the state and state-integrated calendar; ask a private school about its own attendance arrangements.
Official sources
- Ministry of Education: School terms and holidays dates (read )
- Employment New Zealand: Public holidays and anniversary dates (read )
- Holidays Act 2003 (2003 No 129), sections 44, 45 and 45A, "Version as at 20 December 2023" (New Zealand Legislation) (read )
Every date here was compared with the official pages on . Should anything differ, the official page is right. How dates are checked.