Christmas in New Zealand

A summer Christmas in New Zealand

In the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas arrives at the start of summer, around the longest days of the year. New Zealand keeps many of the customs inherited from Britain, the decorated tree, Father Christmas, carols, Christmas cards and a family meal on 25 December, but the weather changes how they are kept. Instead of a fireside dinner, many families have lunch in the garden or at the beach, cook on the barbecue, or pack a picnic. Cold meats, seafood and salads sit beside the traditional ham.

The season is also the start of the long summer break. Most regular television series and current affairs programmes go off air from mid-December until mid to late January, and many people take their annual holiday between Christmas and the New Year, heading for the beach, the lakes and the countryside. Outdoor Christmas in the Park concerts in Auckland and Christchurch draw large crowds, and towns hold their own carol services and community events.

The word for Christmas in te reo Māori is Kirihimete, a loanword from English, and the greeting is Meri Kirihimete, Merry Christmas. A Christmas card is a kāri Kirihimete, and Kirihimete can also be used as a verb, to spend Christmas somewhere.

The pōhutukawa: New Zealand's Christmas tree

The pōhutukawa, Metrosideros excelsa, is a native coastal tree whose branches are covered in brilliant crimson flowers in early summer. It flowers from November to January, usually peaking in mid to late December, and has long been known as the New Zealand Christmas tree. The earliest published reference to it as a Christmas tree is an 1857 newspaper report of a feast held by the Māori leader Eruera Patuone.

The tree grows naturally along the coast of the North Island, north of a line from New Plymouth to Gisborne, where it once formed an almost continuous fringe along the shore. It also grows around the lakes near Rotorua and, in the South Island, in Abel Tasman National Park. Māori regard the pōhutukawa as a chiefly tree, a rākau rangatira, and use extracts of its inner bark in rongoā, traditional healing. Farming and introduced pests reduced pōhutukawa forest by more than 90 per cent by the 1990s.

Santa parades

The Christmas season in New Zealand traditionally begins with a Santa parade. Many towns and cities hold one in late November or early December, with floats, marching bands and Father Christmas. The largest is the Farmers Santa Parade in Auckland, sponsored by the Farmers department store chain and supported by Auckland Council. Its organisers trace its history back to 1933. The parade follows a route of about 1.6 km through the city centre, including Queen Street, and takes around an hour to pass any one point.

In 2026 the Auckland parade is scheduled for Sunday 29 November, with inner-city roads closed from 10am to 4pm. If bad weather forces a postponement, the parade will be held at 1pm on Sunday 6 December 2026.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve many churches hold carol services and late-evening or midnight services. Presents are opened on Christmas morning, and the main family meal is usually Christmas lunch. Ham and roast lamb are the most popular hot meats, served with potatoes and kūmara, the Māori sweet potato, while cold meats, seafood and salads suit the summer heat. Dessert is often pavlova, the meringue named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured New Zealand and Australia in the 1920s. Both countries claim to have invented it, and historians still disagree; in New Zealand it is typically topped with whipped cream, kiwifruit and strawberries.

Christmas Day is one of the quietest days of the year. It is one of the few days on which all but the most essential businesses and services must close, so the afternoon is usually spent at home, in the garden, at the beach or visiting family.

Christmas public holidays and Mondayisation

Christmas Day (25 December) and Boxing Day (26 December) are both public holidays in New Zealand, as are New Year's Day and the day after New Year's Day (1 and 2 January). When one of these holidays falls on a weekend, New Zealand applies Mondayisation: an employee who would normally work on that Saturday or Sunday has the holiday on the day itself, while one who would not normally work that day has it on the following Monday, or the Tuesday if Monday is already a holiday.

In the 2026–27 season, Christmas Day falls on a Friday and is observed on the day. Boxing Day falls on Saturday 26 December 2026, so it is observed on the Saturday by those who normally work Saturdays and on Monday 28 December 2026 by those who do not. New Year's Day 2027 is a Friday, and the day after New Year's Day falls on Saturday 2 January, observed on Monday 4 January by those who do not normally work Saturdays. Boxing Day is also the traditional start of the post-Christmas sales.

New Year: among the first to welcome 2027

New Zealand is among the first countries to see in the New Year, though not the very first. The Line Islands of Kiribati, on UTC+14, reach midnight first. New Zealand's own Chatham Islands, which keep time 45 minutes ahead of the mainland, welcome the New Year before the rest of the country, and mainland New Zealand, on daylight saving time (UTC+13) at New Year, follows. Gisborne, on the East Coast, is one of the first cities in the world to see the sun rise on New Year's Day, and the nearby Waiohika Estate hosts Rhythm and Vines, a three-day music festival held over the New Year.

New Year's Eve is celebrated with fireworks, festivals and parties across the country, and because New Zealanders are among the first to reach midnight, many send greetings to family and friends overseas who are still waiting for the countdown. For free New Year 2027 cards and wishes, including WhatsApp and Instagram status images and quote cards, see our sister site.

Christmas around New Zealand

Traditional New Zealand Christmas food

New Zealand Christmas season dates 2026–27

Christmas in New Zealand: frequently asked questions

Christmas in nearby countries