The Cook Islands has 11 public holidays a year, set by the Public Holidays Act 1999. When one falls on a weekend, most move to the next weekday, and that is where calendar apps and holiday websites often go wrong. The dates below are worked out from the Act itself, on the day each holiday is observed.
Public holidays in 2026
| Day observed | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 1 January | New Year's Day | |
| Friday 2 January | Day after New Year's Day | |
| Friday 3 April | Good Friday | |
| Monday 6 April | Easter Monday | |
| Saturday 25 April | Anzac Day | Never moved to a weekday |
| Monday 1 June | King's Birthday | Same day as New Zealand |
| Friday 3 July | Ra o te Ui Ariki | First Friday of July |
| Tuesday 4 August | Constitution Day | |
| Monday 26 October | Cook Islands Gospel Day | |
| Friday 25 December | Christmas Day | |
| Monday 28 December | Boxing Day | Moved from Saturday 26 December |
Public holidays in 2027
| Day observed | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 1 January | New Year's Day | |
| Monday 4 January | Day after New Year's Day | Moved from Saturday 2 January |
| Friday 26 March | Good Friday | |
| Monday 29 March | Easter Monday | |
| Sunday 25 April | Anzac Day | Never moved to a weekday |
| Monday 7 June | King's Birthday | Same day as New Zealand |
| Friday 2 July | Ra o te Ui Ariki | First Friday of July |
| Wednesday 4 August | Constitution Day | |
| Tuesday 26 October | Cook Islands Gospel Day | |
| Monday 27 December | Christmas Day | Moved from Saturday 25 December |
| Tuesday 28 December | Boxing Day | Moved from Sunday 26 December |
How the weekend rule works
Section 3(2) of the Public Holidays Act 1999 moves a holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday to the following Monday. Christmas and Boxing Day are treated as a pair, and so are New Year's Day and the day after: when both fall on a weekend, they are observed on the Monday and Tuesday. In 2027, Christmas Day falls on a Saturday and Boxing Day on a Sunday, so the holidays are Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December. Several holiday websites still show the weekend dates.
Anzac Day is the exception and never moves. In 2026 it fell on a Saturday and, as Cook Islands News reported, it was "not Mondayised". In 2027 it falls on a Sunday and stays there.
Good Friday, Easter Monday and the King's Birthday follow New Zealand's dates, so the King's Birthday is the first Monday in June. Ra o te Ui Ariki is always a Friday, which makes it a long weekend every year.
What each holiday marks
Anzac Day (25 April) remembers Cook Islanders who served in war, including both world wars. Rarotonga holds a dawn service, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration hosts the national service with the Cook Islands Returned Servicemen Association.
Ra o te Ui Ariki (first Friday of July) honours the Ariki, the traditional high chiefs. On Rarotonga the Ariki and other traditional leaders begin the day at early-morning church services. It is the newest holiday: it was added from 2012 on 6 July, and moved in 2013 to the first Friday of July.
Constitution Day (4 August) marks self-government in 1965. It is the last day of Te Maeva Nui, the national festival of song, dance and drumming, which fills the two weeks before it. The Ministry of Cultural Development ran the 2026 festival from 24 July to 4 August. The next festival's dates are on our What's On page.
Gospel Day (26 October) marks the arrival of Christianity. Papeiha and Vahapata, Tahitian converts trained by the London Missionary Society, brought it to Aitutaki on 26 October 1821. On Rarotonga, the six congregations of the Cook Islands Christian Church each stage a nuku, a drama of a Bible story or of the gospel's arrival. One congregation hosts each year: Ngatangiia in 2024 and Matavera in 2025, when the programme began at 8.30am and guests were asked to arrive by 8am.
Island Gospel Days
Each island also remembers the day the gospel reached it. These used to be island public holidays, set one at a time by Order in Executive Council. The 2011 amendment that added Ra o te Ui Ariki also repealed them, from 1 January 2012. Some calendars still list them as regional holidays. The island churches still celebrate them, and on a small island that can change what is open, so ask your host.
These are the dates the old Orders set, read from the copies the Cook Islands Parliament publishes:
- Penrhyn: 13 March
- Palmerston: 25 May
- Mitiaro: 22 July. The island marked its bicentenary on 21 July 2023.
- Rarotonga: 25 July
- Manihiki: 8 August
- Rakahanga: 15 August
- Aitutaki: 27 October, the day after national Gospel Day
- Pukapuka: 6 December
Atiu (19 July) and Mauke (23 July) marked their bicentenaries in July 2023, and Mangaia in June 2024, Cook Islands News reported. We have not found an Order for these three islands.
What's open on a public holiday
Government offices, banks and many shops close. Resorts keep running, and many restaurants, cafés and tours stay open, though some take the day off, so check before you go.
The Act still lists every Sunday as a public holiday. Since 1 July 2013, though, Sunday has not counted as one for workers' pay, as the Ministry of Internal Affairs fact sheet explains. Sundays are still quiet: most shops shut and the bus runs a reduced timetable. Our travel tips cover Sundays in more detail.
Sources
The national dates come from the Public Holidays Act 1999 and its amendments, checked against the consolidated Act on the Cook Islands Parliament's laws website. The island dates come from the Gospel Day Orders of 1989 to 2008 (for example, Rarotonga's). This page is rebuilt every day, so it rolls over to the new year on 1 January.
