Anzac Day services 2026: Times and road closures for Auckland and beyond

Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau

Dawn services are being held all around Auckland, with the largest starting at the Auckland War Memorial Museum at 5am.

The following roads in the area will be closed through the morning:

Museum Circuit Rd closed: 4am – 8am.Cenotaph Rd closed: 4am – 8am.Maunsell Rd closed: 4am – 8am. (Restricted parking access until 5.30am.) Timings: 5.30am – 8am.Football Rd closed: 5.30am – 8am. (Public access to field parking until 5.30am.)Little George St closed: 5.30am – 8am. (Public access to field parking until 5.30am.)The Crescent Rd closed: 5.30am – 8am. (Mobility parking access until 5.30am.)Winter Garden Rd closed: 5.30am – 8am. (Mobility parking access until 5.30am.)Kiosk Rd closed: 5.30am – 8am. (Mobility parking access until 5.30am.)

A list of local remembrance ceremonies is available here.

Whangārei

In Whangārei, dawn services will begin at 6am at Laurie Hill Park and the Ngunguru Sports Complex.

Other services will follow at Maunu Cemetery and Te Kamo Community Hall, both at 10am, and at Onerahi Community Hall and Maungakaramea Sports Club from 11am.

Waikato

The Morrinsville RSA will be holding a dawn service in the carpark at 6am, with the public to begin assembling by 5.45. A light breakfast will be available after the service.

In Taupō, service personnel and local community groups are to report to the parade marshal in the rear carpark of the Great Lake Centre at 5.40am. Other attendees are to gather at the Taupō Cenotaph by 5.50am.

After the service, breakfast will be served at the Taupō Bowling Club.

A mix and mingle will be held at the Whangamatā Surf Club at 9.30am before the 11.40am civic parade starts at Memorial Hall. A wreath laying and the opening of the remembrance wall will follow.

Tauranga/Mount Maunganui

The Tauranga dawn parade will begin at 5.45am at Memorial Park, with a combined civic service to start at 9.30am.

It’s the first time Mount Maunganui will not be holding its own civic service.

The dawn service will be going ahead at the Mount Maunganui Cenotaph on Marine Parade.

Gisborne/Tairāwhiti

A combined dawn service will begin at 6am at the Cenotaph on the Esplanade, closing several roads around the area:

Fitzherbert St between Stout St and Ormond Rd.Ormond Rd briefly for the march to the Cenotaph and return.Esplanade between Rutene and Wainui Rds.Wainui Rd – Gladstone Rd Bridge briefly after the service is over.Reads Quay – from Gladstone Rd to Lowe St briefly after the service.Rawiri Street for approximately 20 metres from the Esplanade.

Napier/Hastings – Ahuriri/Heretaunga

The Napier Sound Shell will host a 6am dawn service, to be followed by an 11am civic service at Memorial Square.

In Taradale, early risers can attend the dawn service at the Lone Pine Memorial at 6am, with breakfast available at the club from 6.45am.

The Hastings dawn parade starts at 5.30am in Cenotaph Civic Square, with civic services continuing throughout the day.

Manawatū & Whanganui

The Marton RSA and Citizens Memorial Hall will host a dawn service at 5am, with an additional service at the Marton Park World War I Cenotaph at 2pm.

The Palmerston North parade will begin at 6am on Main St, progressing to Te Marae o Hine. At 7am, a gunfire breakfast will be hosted at the PN Cosmopolitan Club on Linton St.

Members of the public in Woodville can head to the War Memorial in Fontaine Square to attend a Dawn Service at 5.45am.

New Plymouth/Ngāmotu

A dawn parade will begin at 6am on the corner of King St and Queen St, with a service to follow at the city Cenotaph. The New Plymouth Club is offering a post-service breakfast between 6.30 to 9.30 am.

At 10am, a civic service will also be held at the Cenotaph.

Wellington/Pōneke

Wellington’s dawn service will start at 6am at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Those participating in the march should assemble from 5.30am.

The Anzac Day National Commemoration Service will be held in the same place at 11am.

Other civic services around the city can be found here.

To the east in Lower Hutt, the public can gather at 5.45 for a dawn service at the Cenotaph. Breakfast will be available at the Petone Club after the commemoration.

The Titahi Bay RSA will host a dawn service in Porirua beginning at 6.30am.

In Masterton, the dawn parade begins at 5.30am at the Cenotaph in Queen Elizabeth Park.

Nelson/Whakatū

A traditional dawn service will be held at Anzac Park at 6am. For those unable to make the early morning commemoration, a civic Anzac service will be held at Nelson Cathedral at 11am.

Wreath-laying ceremonies will also be held throughout the day at the following locations:

8am – Wakapuaka WWI Cemetery8.30am – Queens Gardens9am – Piki Mai (Cathedral steps)10am – Marsden Valley Cemetery (Returned Servicemen’s Hill)10am – Wakapuaka Memorial Hall

Canterbury/Waitaha

The dawn parade will begin at 6.15 in Christchurch, with a service starting at 6.30am in Cathedral Square. Road closures will be in place from 4am.

Other commemorations will be happening across Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula and can be found here.

In Kaiapoi, those wishing to remember the fallen can gather at the Kaiapoi Memorial Reserve at 6.30am. Attendees are invited to have breakfast at the Kaiapoi Club at 7am.

A 6am service will also be held at the Cenotaph in Temuka Domain, with soup and coffee available at the local clubrooms afterwards.

Timaru

Several services will be held across Timaru, with a 6am dawn service at the Queen St Cenotaph to kick off the day.

A 7am service will go ahead at the Timaru Cemetery on Domain Ave, as well as a 7.15 service at the crematorium on 410 Beaconsfield Rd.

The Caroline Bay Soundshell will host a civic service and parade, with attendees to assemble at 9.45am. The ceremony will include a flyover, haka, speeches, poems, hymns, wreath laying and a field gun firing.

Commemorations will then continue at the Timaru Town and Country Club, with a performance from the Drama Queens from 1 to 4pm.

Otago/Ōtākou

Dunedin residents can attend a dawn service at the Cenotaph in Queens Gardens, with coffee and Anzac biscuits in the Toitū Josephine Foyer from 7am.

In Queenstown, a dawn service will be held at the Memorial Gates at 6.30am, followed by a parade towards Memorial Hall.

Southland/Murihiku

The Invercargill Cenotaph will host a commemoration ceremony at 6.45am, with a ceremony to follow at the Invercargill Working Men’s Club.

Bluff’s dawn service will begin at 50 Flagstaff Rd at 6.45am. A civic service will be held later at 44 Gore St, beginning at 10.30 am and being followed by a Memorial March at 11am.