Holidays Kiwi Foldon

I promised I’d write a post about how Kiwis celebrate holidays. I’ve touched on individual ones before, but here I’ll try to give an overview, weaving in our own experiences.

Let’s start with the winter — well, summer — holidays.

1. Halloween / All Saints’ Day Here it’s only the Halloween part that’s celebrated — kids and adults dress up, grab their candy collection baskets, and roam the streets. They knock on doors with “Trick or Treat” and generally have a fantastic time. It’s become bigger each year since we’ve been here.

2. Guy Fawkes Night (November 5th) This is the fireworks night — bonfires and fireworks everywhere. It’s a British tradition celebrating the failure of the Gunpowder Plot. The NZ version involves lots of backyard fireworks, though there’s growing debate about banning private fireworks because of the effect on pets and wildlife.

3. Christmas Christmas in summer is surreal the first time. We had Christmas lunch on the beach. BBQ, sun, barefoot kids running in the sand — while Grandma was sending photos of snow from Budapest. The presents happen on Christmas morning, much like the American tradition rather than the Hungarian December 24th evening.

4. New Year’s Eve Auckland has a big fireworks display at the Sky Tower. We watched it from a friend’s rooftop the first year. Being among the first in the world to ring in the new year never gets old.

5. Waitangi Day (February 6th) New Zealand’s national day — celebrating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the Crown and Maori chiefs. There are ceremonies, cultural performances, and community events.

6. ANZAC Day (April 25th) The equivalent of a remembrance day. Dawn services at war memorials, very solemn and moving. Even the kids stand quietly.

The biggest adjustment was Christmas in summer. It still feels slightly wrong, but also magical. The kids don’t care about the weather — presents are presents.