Auckland Anniversary Day in 2025

When is Auckland Anniversary Day?

Auckland Anniversary Day is celebrated on the Monday nearest to January 29th.

Northland celebrates this day as its anniversary day but calls it Northland Day.

Auckland Anniversary Day

Auckland Anniversary Day is observed as a public holiday in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand. It is observed throughout the historic Auckland Province, even though the provinces of New Zealand were abolished in 1876.

The modern area of observation includes all of the Northland and Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne Regions, as well as some parts of the Manawatu-Wanganui and Hawke's Bay regions north of the 39th parallel.

The holiday usually falls on the Monday closest to January 29th, the anniversary of the arrival of William Hobson. Hobson would go on to become the first Governor of New Zealand and a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands in 1840.

Auckland Anniversary Day was established in 1842.

Source: Wikipedia

Auckland Regatta

The Auckland Regatta is held on the holiday weekend and is the largest single-day yachting regatta in the world, and dates back to the founding of Auckland in 1840. William Hobson himself even participated in this first regatta. The America's Cup regatta was first held 11 years later.

Provincial Anniversary Days in New Zealand

The Holidays Act 1981 specifies each locality observing a Provincial Anniversary Day to celebrate the founding days or landing days of the first colonists of the various colonial provinces.

However, the exact dates are not legislated for. The regions covered are set by provincial district (as they stood when abolished in 1876), plus Southland, the Chatham Islands, South Canterbury and Northland.