Cultural events are listed here with basic background details. For specific events, dates, and times, please see the Featured Events on the Cultural Calendar main page.

EVENT DESCRIPTION

On the last Friday of August each year in Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Tiriti-based Multicultural Day is celebrated. This is a day for people of all races and ethnicities to showcase and celebrate their cultures, and to share with one another.  

First launched by the New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils (MNZ) in 2021, Te Tiriti-based Multicultural Day is a day for bringing your cultural heritage into your daily life through the wearing of cultural attire, the sharing of traditional food and music, the speaking of your native language, or in any other way you wish to express the celebration of your whakapapa.  

Te Tiriti-based Multicultural Day is intentionally celebrated on a weekday as, in the words of MNZ President Pancha Narayanan, “We want cultural visibility to be normalised in everyday environments. Let’s see it in the workplace, in the universities, on the streets, in the schools.” 

Te Tiriti-based Multicultural Day resources for schools can be found on the MNZ Website Publications page. 

LIKELY DATES

Te Tiriti-based Multicultural Day is celebrated on the last Friday of August each year.