Since Norfolk Island is one of the outer territories of the Commonwealth of Australia, the official calendar on it has much in common with the metropolitan calendar, but there are also special holidays. On January 1, the people of Norfolk, along with most of the inhabitants of our planet, celebrate the New Year.

On January 26, the inhabitants of the island, being Australian citizens, celebrate Australia Day. It was on this day in 1788 that British sovereignty was proclaimed over the east coast of this continent, where the First Fleet arrived from England from England, consisting of eleven sailing ships with one and a half thousand settlers on board. Their main share (778 people) were prisoners expelled from the British Isles, this was the beginning of the process of settling and colonizing Australia by Europeans.

On March 6, the islanders celebrate Norfolk’s Founding Day.

In March or April, the population of the island, together with Christians around the world, celebrates Good Friday, Easter itself, and Easter Monday according to the Gregorian calendar.

April 25 is celebrated in New Zealand, Norfolk and throughout the Commonwealth of Australia as ANZAC Day, that is, the Day of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. On this day in 1915, the landing of the Entente troops on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli began. Although this Dardanelles operation ended unsuccessfully, the New Zealanders and Australians distinguished themselves in its course, therefore, in both states, this day was introduced into the holiday calendar, on which veterans of the 1st World War are remembered. On June 8, Bounty Day is widely celebrated on this island. On this date in 1856, the descendants of the rebels from Pitcairn Island were resettled on Norfolk Island, which by this time was uninhabited, by decree of Queen Victoria. It should be noted that Bounty Day is also celebrated on Pitcairn, but only on January 23, since it was on this date in 1790 that the British ship Bounty approached here with the rebels who mutinied on this ship.

The second Monday in June is the Queen’s Official Birthday. At the same time, this birthday is not understood to be the actual date when the living Queen of Great Britain was born, but the day arbitrarily chosen by each state of the Commonwealth of Australia and its external territories, on which citizens pay tribute to the monarchical power of all British Commonwealth.

The second Monday in October is Show Day in Norfolk. Despite the small size of the island and the relative sparseness of its population, there are many cultural and sporting events throughout the year, but the culmination is precisely this special day, on which art galleries, exhibition halls and museums of Norfolk open their doors for free.

The last Wednesday of November on the island is Thanksgiving Day. Its islanders began to celebrate for a long time following the example of the Americans, although it is unlikely that any of the Australian settlers actually participated in the first friendly dinner of Europeans and natives of the country discovered by Columbus.

On December 25, the island celebrates Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar.

December 26 is the second day of the Christmas holidays, which in all Commonwealth countries is called Boxing Day, or rather Box Day. This name has historically developed because respectable Englishmen in the morning of this day packed the remains of yesterday’s festive dinner in boxes and gave them to poor neighbors.