📅 holiday

Nelson Anniversary Day

Monday, February 2, 2026

— days to go

Each “region” In New Zealand is allowed an off-work holiday each year to commemorate its founding, meaning the arrival of Europeans and the erecting of that region’s earliest provincial settlements. The city of Nelson and surrounding areas are referred to as the Region of Nelson, based on the boundaries of the former Province of Nelson. The provinces system was abolished in New Zealand in 1876, but the boundaries of the old provinces are now used as “regional boundaries”. For Nelson Region, the Monday closest to 1 February is commemorated each year as Nelson Anniversary Day. This celebrates the establishment of the settlement of Nelson on 1 February 1842, by settlers from the New Zealand Company ship Fifeshire. The settlers had left London four and a half months earlier, and the journey had been long and arduous. More than a dozen died, but several were born during the journey as well. Interestingly, the Fifeshire was soon destroyed when it hit a reef on the way to China after dropping off the settlers. The trip to settle Nelson was its first and last journey. For Nelson Anniversary Day, many will just take a much welcome day off work and relax at home. But many get out on the town and attend numerous festive events, some of them very educational and others pure entertainment.

History

Each “region” In New Zealand is allowed an off-work holiday each year to commemorate its founding, meaning the arrival of Europeans and the erecting of that region’s earliest provincial settlements. For Nelson Region, the Monday closest to 1 February is commemorated each year as Nelson Anniversary Day. This celebrates the establishment of the settlement of Nelson on 1 February 1842, by settlers from the New Zealand Company ship Fifeshire. The settlers had left London four and a half months earli

How It's Celebrated

Other Years

2027 Mon

1 Feb

2028 Mon

31 Jan

2026 Mon

2 Feb

2025 Mon

3 Feb

Countries

🇳🇿 NZ

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🌍 observance Jan 29

Auckland Anniversary

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📅 holiday Feb 10

Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck

The Feast of Saint Paul’s Shipwreck is a holiday unique to Malta because it was on Malta that the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked around the year A.D. 60. In 2027, Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck falls on Wednesday 10 February. The holiday will be on Thursday 10 February in 2028. The feast is kept on February 10th each year, and as Paul is the patron saint of Malta, it is a much-anticipated event. Out of dozens of “saint days” on the church calendar in Malta, the Feast of Saint Paul is one of only a handful that have the status of a national holiday. The account of Paul’s shipwreck and three-month, wintertime stay on Malta is found in the Bible’s Acts 27:27 through 28:11. He was being taken to Rome as a prisoner to eventually stand trial before Caesar. God let him know in advance he would be shipwrecked but would spare the lives of all on board, which promise was later kept and in answer to Paul’s prayers for their lives. The Bible says the storm was in the Adriatic Sea, though Malta borders the Ionian Sea, because in ancient times, the Adriatic’s boundaries were considered to extend much farther south. The ship broke up on the rocks near the shores of Malta, and all swam ashore. The local population greeted them, but thought he might be a murderer whom the “goddess of justice” had finally caught up with after he was bitten by a poisonous snake. After he lived, however, they supposed him to be, perhaps, a god. Paul, however, soon showed them it was God’s power at work in a mere man by healing the governor of the island, Publius, and many others who were sick or disabled among the island’s population. No doubt, Paul preached the Gospel to them as well, and when he left Malta, the inhabitants gave him all necessary supplies out of gratitude. The Feast of Saint Paul’s Shipwreck is kept at the “Parish Church of Saint Paul Shipwrecked” in Malta’s capital city of Valletta. It is also a day of processions and family get-togethers. Three things to do should you visit Malta, though hopefully not be shipwrecked there, on February 10th are: