Long weekends and public holidays in Canterbury 2026 and 2027
More holiday, fewer leave days.
Every public holiday in Canterbury, the long weekends they make, and the leave hacks that stretch them into a proper break.
Long weekends in Auckland 2026
Three or more days off in a row with no annual leave needed.
Leave hacks
Breaks of a week or more, ranked by days off per leave day. Book the highlighted days.
Public holidays in Canterbury 2026 and 2027
Greyed rows are part-day, regional or restricted days: shown for completeness, left out of the maths.
2026 Gazetted
| Date | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 Jan | New Year's Day | |
| Fri 2 Jan | Day after New Year's Day | |
| Fri 6 Feb | Waitangi Day | |
| Fri 3 Apr | Good Friday | |
| Mon 6 Apr | Easter Monday | |
| Sat 25 Apr | Anzac Day Employees who would otherwise work on that Saturday | Falls on a Saturday. The holiday stays on this date only for employees who would otherwise work that day; everyone else observes it on Monday 27 April. |
| Mon 27 Apr | Anzac Day (observed) | Observed date for employees who would not otherwise work on the Saturday, as listed by Employment New Zealand. |
| Mon 1 Jun | King's Birthday | |
| Fri 10 Jul | Matariki | |
| Mon 26 Oct | Labour Day | |
| Fri 13 Nov | Canterbury Anniversary Day | Actual anniversary date 16 December; this is the observed date listed by Employment New Zealand. Northern and Central Canterbury observe Christchurch Show Day, the second Friday after the first Tuesday in November. |
| Fri 25 Dec | Christmas Day | |
| Sat 26 Dec | Boxing Day Employees who would otherwise work on that Saturday | Falls on a Saturday. The holiday stays on this date only for employees who would otherwise work that day; everyone else observes it on Monday 28 December. |
| Mon 28 Dec | Boxing Day (observed) | Observed date for employees who would not otherwise work on the Saturday, as listed by Employment New Zealand. |
2027 Gazetted
| Date | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 Jan | New Year's Day | |
| Sat 2 Jan | Day after New Year's Day Employees who would otherwise work on that Saturday | Falls on a Saturday. The holiday stays on this date only for employees who would otherwise work that day; everyone else observes it on Monday 4 January. |
| Mon 4 Jan | Day after New Year's Day (observed) | Observed date for employees who would not otherwise work on the Saturday, as listed by Employment New Zealand. |
| Sat 6 Feb | Waitangi Day Employees who would otherwise work on that Saturday | Falls on a Saturday. The holiday stays on this date only for employees who would otherwise work that day; everyone else observes it on Monday 8 February. |
| Mon 8 Feb | Waitangi Day (observed) | Observed date for employees who would not otherwise work on the Saturday, as listed by Employment New Zealand. |
| Fri 26 Mar | Good Friday | |
| Mon 29 Mar | Easter Monday | |
| Sun 25 Apr | Anzac Day Employees who would otherwise work on that Sunday | Falls on a Sunday. The holiday stays on this date only for employees who would otherwise work that day; everyone else observes it on Monday 26 April. The Employment New Zealand table prints this as 'Saturday 25 April', but 25 April 2027 is a Sunday. |
| Mon 26 Apr | Anzac Day (observed) | Observed date for employees who would not otherwise work on the Sunday, as listed by Employment New Zealand. |
| Mon 7 Jun | King's Birthday | |
| Fri 25 Jun | Matariki | |
| Mon 25 Oct | Labour Day | |
| Fri 12 Nov | Canterbury Anniversary Day | Actual anniversary date 16 December; this is the observed date listed by Employment New Zealand. Northern and Central Canterbury observe Christchurch Show Day, the second Friday after the first Tuesday in November. |
| Sat 25 Dec | Christmas Day Employees who would otherwise work on that Saturday | Falls on a Saturday. The holiday stays on this date only for employees who would otherwise work that day; everyone else observes it on Monday 27 December. |
| Sun 26 Dec | Boxing Day Employees who would otherwise work on that Sunday | Falls on a Sunday. The holiday stays on this date only for employees who would otherwise work that day; everyone else observes it on Tuesday 28 December. |
| Mon 27 Dec | Christmas Day (observed) | Observed date for employees who would not otherwise work on the Saturday, as listed by Employment New Zealand. |
| Tue 28 Dec | Boxing Day (observed) | Observed date for employees who would not otherwise work on the Sunday, as listed by Employment New Zealand. |
Sources
- 2026: https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/public-holidays/public-holidays-and-anniversary-dates — checked 2026-11-14. Fetched directly (page last modified 25 September 2026). National dates read from the '2026 public holiday and anniversary dates' table, 'Observed date' column. Where the table gives 'Saturday X or Monday Y', both are recorded: the weekend date carries a 'restricted' flag (only for employees who would otherwise work that day) and the Monday is the '(observed)' entry. Provincial anniversary dates read from the Province table on the same page, 'Observed date' column; the page warns these 'may contain unintentional errors' and to check with the local council.
- 2027: https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/public-holidays/public-holidays-and-anniversary-dates — checked 2026-11-14. Same page, second (2027) table, which has no heading in the page text but follows the 2026 table and its weekdays match 2027. National and anniversary dates read from the 'Observed date' columns. The table prints ANZAC Day as 'Saturday 25 April or Monday 26 April'; 25 April 2027 is a Sunday, so the weekday label is a typo on the source page, the dates are kept as printed. Otago: the page says there is no single day of local observance; the table date (Monday 22 March) is used.
What's different in Canterbury
Northern and Central Canterbury do not observe the anniversary on its actual date of 16 December. They keep Christchurch Show Day instead, defined by Christchurch City as the second Friday after the first Tuesday in November: Friday 13 November in 2026 and Friday 12 November in 2027. It is a Friday, so it makes a three-day weekend with no leave. The best leave value is Christmas 2026: take 29, 30 and 31 December and you are off for eleven days, from Friday 25 December to Monday 4 January 2027. South Canterbury keeps a different day.
How the hacks are worked out
We take every public holiday for your region, add the weekends, and look for stretches where a few days of annual leave bridge the gaps. A hack is any run of seven or more days off that you can unlock when you take one to nine days, measured from the first day you would be off to the last. They are ranked by days off per leave day, so a ten-day break for three days (3.3×) beats a nine-day break for four (2.3×). The budget planner picks the best non-overlapping hacks that fit the annual leave you have, then spends any days left over on short bridges such as a single day that turns a Thursday holiday into a four-day weekend.
Only public holidays from the Employment New Zealand public holidays and anniversary dates list are counted; local, company and optional days are not. Part-day, regional and restricted days are shown in the tables but left out of the maths. Hacks assume you work Monday to Friday.