National public holidays by year
NZ public holidays 2026 to 2028: dates and Mondayised dates
| Public holiday | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Saturday: Mondayised to | ||
| Day after New Year’s Day | Saturday: Mondayised to | Sunday: Mondayised to | |
| Waitangi Day | Saturday: Mondayised to | Sunday: Mondayised to | |
| Good Friday | |||
| Easter Monday | |||
| Anzac Day | Saturday: Mondayised to | Sunday: Mondayised to | |
| King’s Birthday | |||
| Matariki | |||
| Labour Day | |||
| Christmas Day | Saturday: Mondayised to | not yet published | |
| Boxing Day | Saturday: Mondayised to | Sunday: Mondayised to | not yet published |
This table brings every national public holiday together across the published years. It shows the day each holiday is observed, including Mondayised dates for eligible holidays that land on a weekend. Whether an observed date applies to an employee depends on whether the weekend day would otherwise be a working day for them. Entries that have not been listed by the official source are marked as unpublished, with no dates filled in by prediction. Open a year page for the weekday and the school period alongside each holiday. Regional anniversary days sit outside this national comparison because the applicable holiday depends on the area.
Year by year, and the rules
- Public holidays 2026all national holidays with Mondayised dates and the school calendar
- Public holidays 2027all national holidays with Mondayised dates and the school calendar
- Public holidays 2028partly published: see which dates are still unavailable
- Long weekendswhich holidays make three or more days off in a row, year by year
- Mondayisationthe weekend rule from the Holidays Act, holiday by holiday
- Matarikithe dates fixed by the Matariki Act
- Easter Tuesdaywhy schools close although it is not a national public holiday
- Anniversary days by regionthe regional public holiday of each province
How public holidays are set
In the words of Employment New Zealand:
The Holidays Act 2003 lists the holidays but does not generally set dates for them.
Provincial Anniversary Days are observed locally by custom and practice and are generally prescribed by regional or city councils. These provinces relate to the former provinces of 19th-century New Zealand and are not determined by present-day districts or regions.
The observed date is when employees get the holiday. See the information below for more about actual versus observed dates.
Holidays that fall on a weekend
In the words of Employment New Zealand:
Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and 2 January holiday
These public holidays are observed on the actual day when they fall on a weekday. When they fall on a Saturday/Sunday:
If the employee would have worked on the Saturday/Sunday, the public holiday is observed on the Saturday/Sunday.
If the employee would not have worked on the Saturday/Sunday, the public holiday is observed on the following Monday (or in some cases Tuesday).
Waitangi Day and Anzac Day
The public holidays for ANZAC Day and Waitangi Day are “Mondayised” (moved to the following Monday) if they fall on a Saturday/Sunday and the employee would not have worked on that Saturday/Sunday.
The Employment Leave Act (from August 2028)
In the words of Employment New Zealand:
The new Employment Leave Act will change how leave works from August 2028.
The Employment Leave Act starts on 6 August 2028, 2 years after it passed into law.
Christmas Day and Boxing Day of that year fall after that date and are listed only once they are published on an official page; Labour Day of that year is shown as the Ministry of Education lists it.
Common questions
- How many public holidays are there in a year?
- There are eleven national public holidays, plus the anniversary day that applies to your region. Actual and Mondayised dates are alternative dates for the same holiday, not extra holidays.
- What if a public holiday lands on a weekend?
- Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, the day after New Year’s Day, Waitangi Day and Anzac Day can transfer. Employees who would otherwise work the weekend day observe it then; other employees use the applicable transferred date shown in the table.
- Why is a later year incomplete?
- Employment New Zealand generally publishes dates a year or two ahead. The table marks later entries as unpublished where official dates are unavailable, including the part of a later year covered by the incoming Employment Leave Act.
Official sources
- 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 )
- Ministry of Education: School terms and holidays dates (read )
- Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022 (2022 No 14), section 6 and Schedule 1 (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.