ANZAC Day 2025 - Poppy Day

Friday 25th April 2025 at Dawn - Lest we forget

Anzac Day / Te Rā o Ngā Hōia

Anzac Day is held annually on 25 April to remember all New Zealanders killed in war and honour our returned service personnel.

Ka tū te Rā o Ngā Hōia i ia tau i te 25 o Āperira hei whakamaumahara i ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa i mate ki ngā pakanga me te whakahōnore i ngā hōia kua hoki mai.

Anzac Day commemorates all New Zealanders killed in war and honours our returned servicemen and women.

The 2025 ANZAC Day Dawn Service, marches and remembrance parade takes place on Friday 25th April 2025.

It was 108 years ago (1917) that our brave ANZAC sons landed at Gallipoli in an event that has gone onto shape New Zealand and its people.

The 25th of April marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

also see Remembrance Day = 11 November 1918

Why is this day so special?
The date itself marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and Australian soldiers - the Anzacs - on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. The aim was to capture the Dardanelles, the gateway to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. At the end of the campaign, Gallipoli was still held by its Turkish defenders.

New Zealanders have marked the landings at Gallipoli since news of the event first reached this country, and Anzac Day has been a public holiday since 1921. On this day the people of New Zealand have acknowledged the sacrifice of all those who have died in warfare, and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.

Over time there have been changes in the way that the day has been commemorated, reflecting the changing features and concerns of our society. During the Second World War, for example, there was increased interest and a heightened sense of the relevance of Anzac Day; in the 1960s and decades following it was from time to time used as a platform for anti-war and other social protest.

Today, at a time when it seems New Zealanders are increasingly keen to assert and celebrate a unique identity, we recognise Anzac Day as a central marker of our nationhood.

The number of New Zealanders attending Anzac Day events in New Zealand, and at Gallipoli, is increasing. For some younger people, the sombre focus of the day receives less emphasis than do the more celebratory aspects of a national holiday. For most, though, the day is an occasion on which to formally pay tribute and to remember.

Anzac Day now promotes a sense of unity. People whose politics, beliefs and aspirations are widely different can share a genuine sorrow at the loss of so many lives in war, and a real respect for those who have endured warfare on behalf of the country we live in.