Northern Territory

No — today is not a public holiday in the Northern Territory.

Saturday 24 October 2026.

Friday

December 2026

Christmas Day

in 62 days

Before then: Christmas Eve on Thu 24 Dec, from 7pm to midnight only — not a day off.

Public holidays left in 2026: 3 Plus Christmas Eve (evening only) and New Year's Eve (evening only)
Next long weekend: 25–28 DecemberFriday to Monday
Shops open today?: YesWhich days shops close
Applies in: All of the NT Plus five local holidays a year in parts of the territory

Subscribe to the NT calendar (.ics)Print this year

NT public holidays coming up

Checked against the Northern Territory's own law and the government's published dates. Where each one comes from is at the bottom of the page.

The rest of 2026

NT public holidays still to come in 2026
Date	Holiday
Thu 24 Dec	Christmas Eve Evening only, from 7pm to midnight — not a day off
Fri 25 Dec	Christmas Day
Sat 26 Dec	Boxing Day Falls on a Saturday, so the following Monday is a public holiday as well.
Mon 28 Dec	Additional public holiday for Boxing Day
Thu 31 Dec	New Year's Eve Evening only, from 7pm to midnight — not a day off

2027

NT public holidays 2027
Date	Holiday
Fri 1 Jan	New Year's Day
Tue 26 Jan	Australia Day
Fri 26 Mar	Good Friday
Sat 27 Mar	Easter Saturday
Sun 28 Mar	Easter Sunday
Mon 29 Mar	Easter Monday
Mon 26 Apr	Anzac Day 25 April 2027 is a Sunday, so the public holiday is the Monday instead.
Mon 3 May	May Day
Mon 14 Jun	King's Birthday
Fri 2 Jul	Alice Springs Show Day Only in the Alice Springs show day region
Fri 9 Jul	Tennant Creek Show Day Only in the Tennant Creek show day region
Fri 16 Jul	Katherine Show Day Only in the Katherine show day region
Fri 23 Jul	Darwin Show Day Only in the Darwin show day region
Mon 2 Aug	Picnic Day
Fri 13 Aug	Borroloola Show Day Only in the Borroloola show day region
Fri 24 Dec	Christmas Eve Evening only, from 7pm to midnight — not a day off
Sat 25 Dec	Christmas Day Falls on a Saturday, so the following Monday is a public holiday as well.
Sun 26 Dec	Boxing Day Falls on a Sunday, so the following Tuesday is a public holiday as well.
Mon 27 Dec	Additional public holiday for Christmas Day
Tue 28 Dec	Additional public holiday for Boxing Day
Fri 31 Dec	New Year's Eve Evening only, from 7pm to midnight — not a day off

2028

The Northern Territory has already published a third year. Not every state and territory has.

NT public holidays 2028
Date	Holiday
Sat 1 Jan	New Year's Day Falls on a Saturday, so the following Monday is a public holiday as well.
Mon 3 Jan	Additional public holiday for New Year's Day
Wed 26 Jan	Australia Day
Fri 14 Apr	Good Friday
Sat 15 Apr	Easter Saturday
Sun 16 Apr	Easter Sunday
Mon 17 Apr	Easter Monday
Tue 25 Apr	Anzac Day A Tuesday, so the Territory's Sunday-only rule never fires.
Mon 1 May	May Day
Mon 12 Jun	King's Birthday
Fri 7 Jul	Alice Springs Show Day Only in the Alice Springs show day region
Fri 14 Jul	Tennant Creek Show Day Only in the Tennant Creek show day region
Fri 21 Jul	Katherine Show Day Only in the Katherine show day region
Fri 28 Jul	Darwin Show Day Only in the Darwin show day region
Mon 7 Aug	Picnic Day
Fri 11 Aug	Borroloola Show Day Only in the Borroloola show day region
Sun 24 Dec	Christmas Eve Evening only, from 7pm to midnight — not a day off
Mon 25 Dec	Christmas Day
Tue 26 Dec	Boxing Day
Sun 31 Dec	New Year's Eve Evening only, from 7pm to midnight — not a day off

Earlier in 2026 — fifteen dates already passed

NT public holidays already passed in 2026
Date	Holiday
Thu 1 Jan	New Year's Day
Mon 26 Jan	Australia Day
Fri 3 Apr	Good Friday
Sat 4 Apr	Easter Saturday
Sun 5 Apr	Easter Sunday
Mon 6 Apr	Easter Monday
Sat 25 Apr	Anzac Day Falls on a Saturday, and the Territory moves Anzac Day only for a Sunday — so it stays on the 25th and nothing is added.
Mon 4 May	May Day The first Monday in May.
Mon 8 Jun	King's Birthday
Fri 3 Jul	Alice Springs Show Day Only in the Alice Springs show day region
Fri 10 Jul	Tennant Creek Show Day Only in the Tennant Creek show day region
Fri 17 Jul	Katherine Show Day Only in the Katherine show day region
Fri 24 Jul	Darwin Show Day Only in the Darwin show day region
Mon 3 Aug	Picnic Day The first Monday in August, and unique to the Territory.
Fri 14 Aug	Borroloola Show Day Only in the Borroloola show day region

Good to know: The Territory takes a Picnic Day in August that exists nowhere else, and leaves its show days out of the Act entirely.

2026 at a glance

The whole year on one screen, with every public holiday marked and today circled. This is the view worth printing.

Public holiday Today

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Long weekends in the NT

Three days or more in a row without a working day in the middle. A holiday landing on a Saturday does not make one by itself, which is why these are worked out from the published dates rather than assumed. This models a standard Monday-to-Friday week, which is not everyone's. For the same question asked the other way round — who else is off that weekend — see long weekends month by month.

NT long weekends, the next twelve months
Dates	Because of
Fri 25 – Mon 28 Dec 4 days	Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the additional public holiday for Boxing Day
Fri 1 – Sun 3 Jan 2027 3 days	New Year's Day
Fri 26 – Mon 29 Mar 2027 4 days	Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday
Sat 24 – Mon 26 Apr 2027 3 days	Anzac Day
Sat 1 – Mon 3 May 2027 3 days	May Day
Sat 12 – Mon 14 Jun 2027 3 days	King's Birthday
Sat 31 Jul – Mon 2 Aug 2027 3 days	Picnic Day

Turn the NT's public holidays into longer breaks

Worked out from the NT dates above: which days to book, and what each one buys. Monday-to-Friday assumed, as everywhere else on this page.

NT, the next twelve months — days off per day of leave booked
Book	What you get
Tue 29 – Thu 31 Dec 3 days of leave	10 days off, Fri 25 Dec – Sun 3 Jan 2027 Christmas Day, Boxing Day, the additional public holiday for Boxing Day and New Year's Day
Mon 25 Jan 2027 1 day of leave	4 days off, Sat 23 – Tue 26 Jan Australia Day Best value: the most days off per day of leave
Mon 22 – Thu 25 Mar 2027 4 days of leave	10 days off, Sat 20 – Mon 29 Mar Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday
Tue 27 – Fri 30 Apr 2027 4 days of leave	10 days off, Sat 24 Apr – Mon 3 May Anzac Day and May Day
Tue 15 – Fri 18 Jun 2027 4 days of leave	9 days off, Sat 12 – Sun 20 Jun King's Birthday
Tue 3 – Fri 6 Aug 2027 4 days of leave	9 days off, Sat 31 Jul – Sun 8 Aug Picnic Day

A public holiday inside booked annual leave does not come out of your balance, and the rule turns on where you are based for work rather than where you live — what a day of leave is worth sets out the section and what it means for a regional day.

Which days do NT shops have to close?

The trading list is not the holiday list

There are no restricted trading days in the Northern Territory. Its statute book carries no shop trading hours legislation at all, so a shop may open on any day of the year.

The law: None — no shop trading hours Act is in force in the Northern Territory.

The Territory and the ACT are the two jurisdictions with no shop trading restrictions whatsoever — the ACT by repealing its Act in 1997, the Territory by never having had one on the books we can find. Every other jurisdiction restricts something: five days in NSW, four in Queensland, two and a half in Victoria, two in Tasmania, and in Western Australia and South Australia a scheme built on shop class and geography instead of days.

The exemptions:

Nothing to exempt: there is no restriction to be exempt from. Opening hours are a commercial decision, or a matter for a shopping centre lease.
Liquor and gambling licences carry their own hours and are unaffected.
This is a finding about shops. Working a public holiday is a separate question entirely, and the answer is in your award or agreement.

Does your council get it?

Some public holidays apply to part of the territory only

The Territory’s five show days — Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin and Borroloola — are not in the Act. They are gazetted under s6, which lets the Minister appoint a public holiday for a named part of the Territory, so each one is a real public holiday in its own region and an ordinary Friday everywhere else. All five fall on a Friday, four of them on consecutive Fridays in July, working down the track from Alice Springs to Darwin; Borroloola’s comes three weeks later in August. The regions: Darwin covers Adelaide River, Alyangula, Angurugu, Batchelor, Darwin, Galiwinku, Gapuwiyak, Gunbalanya, Maningrida, Milingimbi, Milyakburra, Nhulunbuy, Palmerston, Peppimenarti, Ramingining, Umbakumba, Wadeye, Wurrumiyanga and Yirrkala. Katherine covers Bulman, Daguragu, Daly Waters, Kalkarindji, Katherine, Lajamanu, Larrimah, Mataranka, Nauiyu, Ngukurr, Numbulwar, Pine Creek, Timber Creek and Wooliana. Tennant Creek covers Ali Curung, Alpurrurulam, Elliott, Newcastle Waters and Tennant Creek. Alice Springs covers Alice Springs, Hermannsburg, Kulgera, Mount Barkly, Papunya, Tara, Willowra, Wilora, Yuendumu and Yulara. Borroloola covers Borroloola. Those are the main towns the Government lists for each region, not the boundary itself — the boundary is the map.

So whether you get one of these days depends on where in the Northern Territory you are based, not only on the territory. The territory-wide table above is complete, and the local days in the tables above are every one the territory publishes.

Where these dates come from

Public holidays in the Northern Territory are set by the Public Holidays Act 1981 (NT), with some dates set by orders, proclamations or notices made under it. Every date was checked against the dates published by the Northern Territory Government (Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment) on Wednesday 16 September 2026.

The Territory's five show days are appointed for their regions by notice under section 6. That notice was not located, so their dates come from the NT Government's published table rather than from the notice itself.

Which part of the law sets each day

New Year's Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
Australia Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
Good Friday — Schedule 2 of the Act
Easter Saturday — Schedule 2 of the Act
Easter Sunday — Schedule 2 of the Act
Easter Monday — Schedule 2 of the Act
Anzac Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
May Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
King's Birthday — Schedule 2 of the Act
Alice Springs Show Day — section 6 of the Act
Tennant Creek Show Day — section 6 of the Act
Katherine Show Day — section 6 of the Act
Darwin Show Day — section 6 of the Act
Picnic Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
Borroloola Show Day — section 6 of the Act
Christmas Eve — Schedule 2 of the Act
Christmas Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
Boxing Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
Additional public holiday for Boxing Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
New Year's Eve — Schedule 2 of the Act
Additional public holiday for Christmas Day — Schedule 2 of the Act
Additional public holiday for New Year's Day — Schedule 2 of the Act

Notes on particular dates

Easter Saturday (Sat 4 Apr 2026): The Act calls it 'the Saturday following Good Friday'.
Alice Springs Show Day (Fri 3 Jul 2026, Fri 2 Jul 2027 and Fri 7 Jul 2028): A show day for this region only, appointed under section 6 rather than listed in the Act. The appointing notice was not located; the date is from the NT Government's published table. Covers Alice Springs, Yulara, Yuendumu, Hermannsburg and six others. The region is defined by the Government’s show day map rather than by council boundaries, and the towns named are the main ones, not the whole of it.
Tennant Creek Show Day (Fri 10 Jul 2026, Fri 9 Jul 2027 and Fri 14 Jul 2028): A show day for this region only, appointed under section 6 rather than listed in the Act. The appointing notice was not located; the date is from the NT Government's published table. Covers Tennant Creek, Elliott, Ali Curung, Alpurrurulam and Newcastle Waters. The region is defined by the Government’s show day map rather than by council boundaries, and the towns named are the main ones, not the whole of it.
Katherine Show Day (Fri 17 Jul 2026, Fri 16 Jul 2027 and Fri 21 Jul 2028): A show day for this region only, appointed under section 6 rather than listed in the Act. The appointing notice was not located; the date is from the NT Government's published table. Covers Katherine, Pine Creek, Mataranka, Timber Creek and nine others. The region is defined by the Government’s show day map rather than by council boundaries, and the towns named are the main ones, not the whole of it.
Darwin Show Day (Fri 24 Jul 2026, Fri 23 Jul 2027 and Fri 28 Jul 2028): A show day for this region only, appointed under section 6 rather than listed in the Act. The appointing notice was not located; the date is from the NT Government's published table. Covers Darwin, Palmerston, Nhulunbuy, Wadeye and fifteen other communities. The region is defined by the Government’s show day map rather than by council boundaries, and the towns named are the main ones, not the whole of it.
Borroloola Show Day (Fri 14 Aug 2026, Fri 13 Aug 2027 and Fri 11 Aug 2028): A show day for this region only, appointed under section 6 rather than listed in the Act. The appointing notice was not located; the date is from the NT Government's published table. Covers Borroloola. The region is defined by the Government’s show day map rather than by council boundaries, and the towns named are the main ones, not the whole of it.

If the day affects your pay or your trading

Whenday answers what the date is. Two sibling sites answer what it costs, and they are written by the same author — see about Whenday for how they fit together.

Working this day? Public-holiday penalty rates and how they stack with leave loading — Payjoey works from the Fair Work rules.
Trading this day? Your state's restricted-trading rules for small business — Bizroo covers the obligations that follow.

Frequently asked questions

Is today a public holiday in the NT?

On Saturday 24 October 2026, no.

How many public holidays are there in the NT in 2026?

Fifteen across the whole territory — the first is New Year's Day on Thursday 1 January 2026 and the last is New Year's Eve on Thursday 31 December 2026, with five more that apply in part of the territory only. The total moves from year to year because several days gain a substitute or an extra Monday when they land on a weekend; the bottom of this page lists which part of the law sets each one.

When is the next public holiday in the NT?

Christmas Day, on Friday 25 December 2026: 62 days after Saturday 24 October 2026. The Northern Territory has published 2027 as well, so the list on this page carries on past New Year — those are the dates to plan travel or rosters around.

When is the next long weekend in the NT?

Friday 25 to Monday 28 December 2026 — 4 days around Christmas Day, with 3 public holidays in it. After that, Friday 1 to Sunday 3 January 2027 — 3 days around New Year's Day.

Are Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday public holidays in the NT?

Yes, both. The NT public holidays for Easter 2027 are Good Friday (Friday 26 March), Easter Saturday (Saturday 27 March), Easter Sunday (Sunday 28 March) and Easter Monday (Monday 29 March).

Are Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve public holidays in the NT?

Yes, for part of the day: Christmas Eve from 7pm to midnight on Thursday 24 December 2026 and New Year's Eve from 7pm to midnight on Thursday 31 December 2026. They are public holidays for those hours only; the rest of each day is not.

Is Boxing Day a public holiday in the NT?

Yes. Saturday 26 December 2026 is a public holiday in the NT. Monday 28 December 2026 is the additional public holiday for Boxing Day, because 26 December falls on a Saturday.

Is Anzac Day a public holiday in the NT?

Yes. In 2027 the NT public holiday for Anzac Day is Monday 26 April 2027 — under the Public Holidays Act 1981 (NT). Whether a jurisdiction adds a day, swaps the day or leaves a weekend Anzac Day where it falls is the rule that differs most across the country, so a list giving one date for everyone gets it wrong somewhere; the Anzac Day page sets all eight answers side by side.

What is Picnic Day?

The first Monday in August, and a Territory institution with no equivalent anywhere else in Australia. Schedule 2 lists it without explanation, which is fitting for a day whose origins are usually traced to a workers’ picnic rather than to any formal commemoration.

It falls on the same Monday that Karratha and Port Hedland in Western Australia take as their regional King’s Birthday — the two are unrelated, but the coincidence means early August is quietly a long weekend across a lot of northern Australia.

Why are the Territory’s show days not in the Act?

Because they are appointed region by region. Schedule 2 is the Territory-wide list; the show days are gazetted separately under section 6, which lets the Minister appoint a day for a named part of the Territory on at least 28 days’ notice.

Each is a real public holiday in its own region and nowhere else. If you roster staff in two towns, check both: Katherine and Darwin take different Fridays in July. The tables above give each one’s date and region.

Does the Northern Territory have part-day public holidays?

Two, both running from 7.00pm to midnight: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. They are in Schedule 2 alongside the full days, which is why they are easy to miss.

They match South Australia exactly, in both the pair of dates and the 7pm start. Queensland has a single part-day, on Christmas Eve, opening an hour earlier at 6pm. No other jurisdiction has one that applies across the whole state or territory.

Is Anzac Day moved in the Territory when it falls on a weekend?

Only for a Sunday. Schedule 2 gives 25 April or, if that day is a Sunday, the following Monday — a swap rather than an addition, and nothing at all when the 25th is a Saturday.

So in 2026 the Territory works Monday 27 April, and in 2027 it takes Monday 26 April while the 25th stops being a holiday. Queensland uses the identical rule. The ACT’s Act is worded the same way, but the ACT declares the other day as well and ends up with two, like New South Wales and Western Australia. Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania leave the day exactly where it falls.

Verified

Checked against the Public Holidays Act 1981 (NT) and the dates published by the Northern Territory Government (Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment) on Wednesday 16 September 2026. If the date affects your pay, check your award or agreement.