Waitangi Day is New Zealand's national day, commemorating the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi — the Treaty of Waitangi — between the British Crown and Māori rangatira on 6 February 1840. The national celebrations are held each year at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in the Bay of Islands, the very place where the treaty was first signed, making it one of the most historically and culturally significant sites in Aotearoa.

The Waitangi Day celebrations are a complex and meaningful gathering — part commemoration, part celebration, part ongoing national conversation about the treaty relationship between Māori and the Crown. The programme includes dawn ceremonies, kapa haka performances, waka hourua voyaging canoe displays on the Waitangi River, cultural demonstrations, speeches and community events that draw thousands of visitors to the Bay of Islands each February.

For visitors to New Zealand, being at Waitangi on 6 February is one of the most profound ways to engage with the country's history and its ongoing relationship with its founding document. The Bay of Islands setting, the presence of both Māori and Pākehā communities in shared observance and the weight of history that the Treaty Grounds carry make it an experience that is moving, thought-provoking and deeply New Zealand.