2017 Waitangi Day Celebrations
Every year on Waitangi Day, 6 February, New Zealanders of all communities, backgrounds and creeds gather to commemorate the signing of New Zealand’s most historic document Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The Treaty of Waitangi.
Waitangi Day at the Treaty Grounds starts at 5am with the traditional Dawn Service in Te Whare Rūnanga, the carved meeting house. Throughout the day there is continuous entertainment at three different areas of the grounds: Upper Treaty Grounds, Waka Stage and the Sports Field opposite the Treaty Grounds. Some 150 market stalls have art, craft, clothing and a large variety of food for sale. Children’s activities include bouncy castles, kids racing cars and sports games.
Please note: Waitangi Treaty Grounds closes its buildings for the day and the grounds become the location for the Waitangi Day festival.
For media enquiries contact Nineke Metz, ninekemetz@waitangi.org.nz
For festival programme details contact Mori Rapana, morirapana@waitangi.org.nz
Waitangi Day stall holders please contact: info@waitangi.org.nz
Download a PDF of the Waitangi Festival Programme
Download a PDF of the Stallholders ApplicationWaitangi Wahine
- Date: Daily until 9 April 2017
- Venue: Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi Exhibition Gallery - upstairs
- Free for Friends of Waitangi and Day Pass holders
View a variety of works by some of the most reputable Māori women artists in New Zealand including Robyn Kahukiwa, Linda Munn, Suzanne Tamaki, Tracey Tawhiao and Andrea Hopkins. This exhibition has been developed by Expressions Whirinaki Arts and Entertainment Centre in commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi.
Archaeology treasure dig for kids
- Date: Saturday 8 April 2017, 2 – 4pm
- Free for Friends of Waitangi and Day Pass holders. Free for children accompanied by parent or caregiver
Come and dig for treasure on Hobson’s Beach to celebrate New Zealand Archaeology Week. Unearth your finds using archaeological tools like trowels and brushes, and you get to keep whatever you dig up.
Archaeology Week - Lecture by Ian Smith
New Zealand Archaeology: A view from the Bay of Islands
- Date: Sunday 9 April 2017 at 2pm
- Free for Friends of Waitangi and Day Pass holders
Ian Smith is a University of Otago archaeologist who has been researching in New Zealand for more than 30 years, making important discoveries about subjects ranging from early Māori seal hunting to the first missionary settlements in the Bay of Islands.
Tirohanga Whānui Views from the Past
Paintings from the Fletcher collection
- Date: Daily from 16 April till 15 September 2017
- Venue: Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi Exhibition Gallery - upstairs
- Free for Friends of Waitangi and Day Pass holders
Featuring New Zealand landscapes and imagery, Tirohanga Whānui explores New Zealand from early European contact aboard Cook’s Endeavour to more contemporary works. Artists featured in the exhibition include William Hodges, Alfred Sharpe, Shane Cotton and Robert Ellis.
Easter Egg Hunt
- Date: Monday 17 April 2017, 10.30am, 12.00pm and 2.00pm
- $5 per family (up to four children)
Lasting an hour, hunt through the Treaty Grounds for colourful plastic eggs. Once you’ve found as many as you can, bring them back to the table on the boardwalk outside the Visitor Centre to trade them in for chocolate.
Evening Easter Egg Hunt
Adults enjoy being kids too!
- Date: Monday 17 April 2017, 5.30pm - 6.30pm
- $5 per person. No more than four people to a team
Entry via the Hobson Memorial behind the Treaty House. Adults only Easter Egg hunt on the Treaty Grounds after hours. Come as a team or come by yourself – find as many colourful plastic Easter eggs as you can and trade them in at the end of the night for chocolate.
Te Kōngahu Waitangi Museum by Night
- Date: Thursday 18 May at 5:30pm
- Venue: Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi Exhibition Gallery - upstairs
- Free for Friends of Waitangi and Day Pass holders
Exhibition floor talk by Peter Shaw, Curator of the Fletcher Trust Collection. Join Peter as he talks about Tirohanga Whānui and the works included in the exhibition.
