Mānawatia a Matariki

Use your free public access to celebrate the Māori New Year

Matariki, the Māori New Year, returns this winter with the public holiday falling on Friday 10 July 2026. Matariki celebrates the rising of the Matariki star cluster in the pre-dawn sky, and is built around three simple ideas:

• remembering those we’ve lost
• celebrating the present with whānau, and
• looking ahead to the year to come with hope.

Matariki is also about our relationship with te taiao – the natural world. The whenua, awa, maunga and moana all have a part to play. Matariki is a great time to remind people of something we champion all year round: everyone’s free, certain, enduring, and practical right to get outdoors and reconnect with the whenua.

Public access to the outdoors isn’t just about recreation – it’s about belonging. The relationship between people and place sits at the heart of Matariki.

Across Aotearoa, there are thousands of kilometres of legal access: unformed legal roads, walkways, esplanade reserves and strips, marginal strips along rivers and the coast, and millions of hectares of public conservation land. Most of it is free for anyone to use. These places give us somewhere to stand under the stars, gather with whānau, and mark the turning of the year – no permission needed, no cost, and no barriers.

There are plenty of simple, free ways to mark Matariki outdoors.

• Early risers could head to a local maunga, headland or beach before dawn to spot the Matariki cluster low in the eastern sky – use our maps or Pocket Maps app to find a legal access route with a clear view, away from city lights.
• Whānau could plan a Matariki hīkoi along a coastal walkway, finishing with shared kai and a chance to talk about loved ones who’ve passed and hopes for the year ahead.
• If you’d rather look forward, the long weekend is also a good excuse to explore somewhere new altogether – a piece of public land you’ve never set foot on.

For information about the Matariki public holiday, see the official Matariki public holiday page and Te Papa’s guide on ways to celebrate Matariki.

To plan your free outdoor access for Matariki – or any day of the year – check our public access maps or download the Pocket Maps app, which works offline so you can find your way even where there’s no cell coverage. We also have advice about some of the best places to view Matariki.

However you choose to mark it, mānawatia a Matariki – may the New Year bring you and your family good health, happiness, and peace.