Matariki in the school calendar
Matariki 2026, 2027 and 2028: the New Zealand public holiday dates
| Year | Date | Weekday | Date in te reo Māori as listed in the Act | School calendar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Friday | 10 Hōngongoi 2026 | Term 2 holidays | |
| 2027 | Friday | 25 Pipiri 2027 | Term 2 (schools close) | |
| 2028 | Friday | 14 Hōngongoi 2028 | Term 2 holidays |
Add to your calendar (.ics) Calendar dates come from official publications or legislation, with no estimates and a source link for each event.
Matariki is New Zealand's newest national public holiday. Its date follows the rising of the Matariki star cluster within the Māori lunar calendar, rather than a fixed date in the calendar year. A schedule to Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022 sets a Friday for each year. The first table pairs public holiday dates with the relevant published school calendar, so you can see whether Matariki falls during term or an existing break. The later-years table includes every remaining date through to the end of the Act's schedule, alongside Te Papa's Tangaroa lunar period. Check the entry for the year you need rather than carrying a previous year's date forward.
Matariki dates from 2029 to 2052
These dates come from the schedule in Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022 and match Te Papa's table, which also gives the Tangaroa lunar period each Friday is closest to. School calendars for these years have not yet been published.
In the words of Te Papa:
The Matariki public holiday dates fall on the closest Friday to the Tangaroa lunar period during the lunar month of Pipiri. Tangaroa is not a single phase of the moon but rather the last quarter period of the lunar calendar. Because of this, the dates to celebrate Matariki will differ from year to year.
Below are the dates agreed upon by the Matariki Advisory Committee for the Matariki holiday beginning in 2022.
| Year | Public holiday date | Tangaroa lunar period |
|---|---|---|
| 2029 | 4–7 Jul | |
| 2030 | 23–26 Jun | |
| 2031 | 11–14 Jul | |
| 2032 | 30 Jun – 2 Jul | |
| 2033 | 20–23 Jun | |
| 2034 | 9–12 Jul | |
| 2035 | 29 Jun – 1 Jul | |
| 2036 | 17–20 Jul | |
| 2037 | 6–9 Jul | |
| 2038 | 25–28 Jun | |
| 2039 | 13–16 Jul | |
| 2040 | 1–4 Jul | |
| 2041 | 21–24 Jul | |
| 2042 | 10–14 (month not given by Te Papa) | |
| 2043 | 30 Jun – 3 Jul | |
| 2044 | 19–22 Jun | |
| 2045 | 7–10 Jul | |
| 2046 | 26–29 Jun | |
| 2047 | 15–18 Jul | |
| 2048 | 3–6 Jul | |
| 2049 | 22–25 Jun | |
| 2050 | 11–14 Jul | |
| 2051 | 1–4 Jul | |
| 2052 | 20–23 Jun |
Where the dates come from
The Act lists each year’s date in a schedule; Employment New Zealand publishes the same days in its holiday tables, and the Ministry of Education names the day in its term and holiday dates.
In the words of Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022 (Schedule 1, legislation.govt.nz):
10 Hōngongoi 2026
25 Pipiri 2027
14 Hōngongoi 2028
Common questions
- Is Matariki always on a Friday?
- Yes. The statutory schedule assigns a Friday to each year’s public holiday. You can find the published date for your chosen year in the Matariki table.
- Does Matariki fall in the school holidays?
- Some years it falls during the school holidays; in others it falls during term. Check the School calendar column beside your year's date.
- Is Matariki Mondayised?
- No. Matariki is scheduled for a weekday, so there is no weekend observance to transfer.
Official sources
- Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022 (2022 No 14), section 6 and Schedule 1 (New Zealand Legislation) (read )
- Employment New Zealand: Public holidays and anniversary dates (read )
- Ministry of Education: School terms and holidays dates (read )
- Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa): Dates for the Matariki public holiday (read )
Every date here was compared with the official pages on . Should anything differ, the official page is right. How dates are checked.