Apart from the

public holidays in New Zealand Public holidays in New Zealand (also known as statutory holidays) consist of a variety of cultural, national, and religious holidays that are legislated in New Zealand. Workers can get a maximum of 12 public holidays (eleven national holidays plu ...

, usually celebrated by a paid day off work, there are a number of unofficial observances in New Zealand that are celebrated for days, weeks or months.

Days

*Chinese New Years in January/February (varies) *World Sleep Day 15 March *

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

14 February *Loud Shirt Day 24 February (2023, No information available for 2022) *

Children's Day Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honor of children, whose date of observance varies by country. In 1925, International Children's Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. Sin ...

first Sunday in March *International Women's Day 8 March *Walk To Work Day 10 March *

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

17 March *Race Relations Day 22 March *

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

1 April *World Book Day 23 April *J Day 3 May *Sleep Apnea Awareness Day 5 May *

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

second Sunday in May *World No Tobacco Day 31 May *

Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

Moon-sighting (varies) *World Refugee Day 20 June *Shades for Migraine 21 June *National Disco Day 2 July *International Day of Indigenous People 9 August *World Youth Day 12 August *Cancer Society Daffodil Day last Friday of August *

Random Acts of Kindness Day Random Acts of Kindness Day is a day to celebrate and encourage random acts of kindness. "It's just a day to celebrate kindness and the whole pay it forward mentality", said Tracy Van Kalsbeek, executive director of the Stratford Perth Community ...

1 September *

Father's Day Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the United ...

first Sunday in September *eDay 12 September *

International Talk Like a Pirate Day International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a parodic holiday created in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate.Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

31 October *

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

3 November *NZDA National Oral Health Day on first Friday of November *

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...

5 November *Premature awareness Day 17 November *World day for the Prevention of Abuse and Violence Against Children Day 19 November *“White Ribbon Day” for the Elimination of Violence against Women 25 November *Aids Foundation “Red Ribbon Day” 1 December *

Crate Day Crate Day is an unofficial holiday in New Zealand, held on the first Saturday of December. The day consists of drinking a crate of twelve 745 ml beer bottles from 12pm until 12am the next day. Crate Day was the inspiration for Truly Friday's hi ...

, first Saturday of December *International Day of Disabled Persons 3 December *World Volunteers Day 5 December *World Human Rights Day 10 December

Weeks

NOTE: Many of these national weeks will change from year to year *Sleep Awareness Week (page not found 22/05/22) *Cloth Nappy Week April *Sea Week 27 Feb to 6 March *New Zealand Sign Language Week from 2 May *Coeliac Awareness Week from 18 to 24 June *Youth Week from 21 to 29 May *Samoan Language Week 30 May to 5 June *Teach a Kid to Sew Week 3rd week in June *

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori ( en, Māori Language Week) is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to ...

(Māori Language Week), typically occurring in the week which includes 14 September. *New Zealand Islam Awareness from 2 August *Mental Health Awareness Week September *New Zealand Conservation Week 10–18 September *National Clean Up Week 17–24 September *New Zealand Fashion Week 21–25 September *New Zealand Chinese Language Week, typically occurring in the third or fourth week of September *Grandparents Week from 27 October to 1 November *Get Outdoors Week 16–24 November *NZ Volunteering Week 19–25 June 2016 *NZ Flowers Week *Child Safeguarding Week 4–10 September 2023

Months

*Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month 1–28 February; *New Zealand Bike to Work month – February *Endometriosis Awareness Month – March *

NZ Music Month The New Zealand Music Commission (NZMC) (Māori: ''Te Reo Reka o Aotearoa'') is a government funded arts agency committed to growing New Zealand music business, both domestically and internationally. It is governed by a Board of Trustees made up ...

– May *Migraine Awareness Month – June *

NZ Book Month NZ Book Month was a non-profit initiative started in 2006, with the goal of increasing readership of New Zealand books. It was a nationwide annual event held in September from 2006 to 2008, in October 2009, March from 2010 to 2013 and August 201 ...

September from 2006 to 2008, October in 2009, March from 2011 to 2013 and August in 2014; not held in 2015 *Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month 1–30 September; *Movember Month – November

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unofficial observances in New Zealand Observances in New Zealand

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Lists of observances