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Cook Islands Travel Guide
Public Holidays
Public holidays include:
- New Year's Days (January 1, 2)
- Good Friday and Easter Monday (March/April)
- ANZAC Day (April 25)
- Queen Elizabeth's Birthday (first Monday in June)
- Constitution Day (August 4)
- National Gospel Day (October 26)
- Labor Day (a Monday in early August)
- White Monday (the Monday after the second Sunday in October)
- Christmas Day (December 25)
- Boxing Day (December 26)
On Rarotonga, Gospel Day is celebrated on July 25; elsewhere it's October 26.
Festivals
The Dancer of the Year Competition is in late April.
The 10-day Te Maeva Celebrations is the big event of the year, culminating on Constitution Day (August 4). There are parades, drumming and singing contests, sporting events, and an agricultural fair.
The Round Raro Road Race is a 31-km marathon held on the first Saturday of October (the record time is 98 minutes set by Kevin Ryan in 1979).
There's the annual tivaevae show mid-October-mid-November at the National Museum on Rarotonga.
National Gospel Day (October 26) recalls October 26, 1821, when the Reverend John Williams landed on Aitutaki. Ask about Biblical pageants (nuku) on that day.
On All Souls Day (November 1) Catholics visit the cemeteries to place candles and flowers on the graves of family members.
The third or fourth week in November is the Tiare Festival, with flower shows, a parade, and beauty contests.
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