Anzac Day in Australia 2027

Australia's Day of Remembrance

Anzac Day, held every April 25, honors Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the force that fought at Gallipoli in World War I. It is a public holiday in every Australian state and territory — in Australia each state declares its own holidays, so nationwide observance is the equivalent of a US federal holiday. For American readers, the closest comparison is Memorial Day, though Anzac Day is more solemn: banks, offices and schools close, and most states restrict retail trading at least for the morning.

Why April 25

The date marks the dawn landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, in what is now Turkey, on April 25, 1915 — the young nations' first major battle of World War I. The eight-month campaign failed, costing more than 8,000 Australian lives, but the couarge and endurence shown there became the founding legend of Australian national identity - the first anniversary commemorations were held in 1916, while the war still ragde, and by 1927 every Australian state had made April 25 a public holiday.

Dawn Services, Marches and Two-Up

Observance begins before sunrise with dawn services at war memorials, echoing the hour of the original landing — hundreds of thousands attend, from small-town cenotaphs to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and Gallipoli itself. Veterans and their descendants march through city streets in the morning, and the day traditionally finihses more loudly: pubs host games of two-up, a coin-toss gambling game legal only on Anzac Day in most states, and the Anzac Day AFL match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground draws huge crowds. Anzac biscuits, oat-and-syrup cookies once sent to soldiers, are baked nationwide.

What Happens When It Falls on a Weekend

Anzac Day is always observed on April 25 itself — it never moves, what differs by state is whether workers get a make-up weekday off when the date lands on a weekend. Western Australia adds the following Monday as an extra public holiday whenever April 25 falls on a Saturday or Sunday. Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT add a Monday holiday only when it falls on a Sunday. New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have no automatic substitute at all, although NSW has in some years gazetted one-off additional Monday holidays by government proclamation, as it did for 2026 and 2027. In every case April 25 remains the day of commemoration; the extra Monday is purely an additional day off.

Anzac Day Beyond Australia

April 25 is equally significant in New Zealand, where it is also a public holiday, and services are held at Gallipoli, at Villers-Bretonneux in France, and in cities worldwide with Australian and New Zealand communities, including several in the United States. The shared trans-Tasman observance makes it one of the few national days commemorated jointly by two countries.