What's on in Paihia, New Zealand through the year

Peak crowds — Bay of Islands Sailing Week, New Zealand summer holidays

• Festival

  Bay of Islands Sailing Week

  20–31 Jan · usuallySporting eventCrowdedBook early

  A keelboat regatta out of Opua at the end of January, when the summer breeze is reliable and every mooring in the bay is taken. The parties ashore are half the entry list's reason for coming. Source ↗

Still on: Game fishing season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually)), New Zealand summer holidays (20 Dec – 1 Feb (usually))

Peak crowds — Waitangi Day, New Zealand summer holidays

• Holiday

  Waitangi Day

  3–7 FebNational holidayCrowded

  The national day is commemorated at the treaty grounds up the road, with the dawn service, waka on the water and a few days of politics and speeches. The town is full and so are the roads in. Source ↗

Still on: Game fishing season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually)), New Zealand summer holidays (20 Dec – 1 Feb (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Holiday

  Easter long weekend

  3–6 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook earlyClosures

  Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays, and on Good Friday and Easter Sunday most shops must stay shut unless local rules or a tourist-area exemption let them open. New Zealanders make it a long weekend away, so motels, holiday parks and campsites fill. Source ↗

Still on: Game fishing season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Easter long weekend, Anzac Day

• Holiday

  Anzac Day

  25–27 AprNational holidayClosures

  25 April remembers those who served in war. Dawn services are held at memorials in towns across the country, and by law most shops stay closed until 1 pm. When it falls on a weekend the public holiday moves to the Monday. Source ↗

Still on: Easter long weekend (3–6 Apr), Game fishing season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Game fishing season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Quiet, wet winter

  1 Jun – 31 AugOff-season shutdownClosures

  Winter in the Bay is mild and wet, the cruise ships stop coming and a good share of the waterfront operators shorten their hours. The islands are yours, on the days it is not blowing.

Busy — Term 2 (July) break in New Zealand, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Quiet, wet winter (1 Jun – 31 Aug)

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Quiet, wet winter (1 Jun – 31 Aug)

Busy — Term 3 (Sept/Oct) break in New Zealand, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Busy — Term 3 (Sept/Oct) break in New Zealand, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  KOAST open art studios trail

  19–27 Oct · usuallyArts festival

  Over Labour Weekend, artists around Kerikeri, twenty minutes north, and across the wider bay open their studios and galleries. Buy the trail guide, follow the flags and meet potters, carvers and painters where they work. Source ↗

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Festival

  Bay of Islands A&P Show

  5–15 Nov · usuallyMajor festival

  New Zealand's oldest agricultural show, first held in 1842, takes over the grounds behind the Waimate North Mission House, half an hour inland, for a Saturday of livestock classes, a local food and wine tent and farming families from across the north. Source ↗

Peak crowds — New Zealand summer holidays, Christmas Day closures

• Season

  Game fishing season

  15 Dec – 15 May · usuallyBook early

  Striped marlin are off the coast from about December to May, best from February to April, and the game boats and their tower spotters are the reason the Opua wharf looks the way it does.

• Holiday

  New Zealand summer holidays

  20 Dec – 1 Feb · usuallySchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Auckland comes north for three hours and stays for a fortnight, so the motels double their rates and the ferry to Russell queues. Book the boat trips before you arrive. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Christmas Day closures

  25–26 DecChristmas & New YearClosures

  Christmas Day is one of the few days most shops must close by law, and many cafes, restaurants and tours shut too. Boxing Day is a public holiday as well, when shops reopen for the sales and the roads fill with families heading off on summer holiday. Source ↗