Australasian Parks Week 2026 | Recreation Aotearoa

January 29, 2026

Held each year in the first week of March, Australasian Parks Week celebrates parks and open spaces across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. It is a trans-Tasman initiative jointly championed by Recreation Aotearoa Te Whai Oranga and Parks & Leisure Australia.

It’s a week to celebrate what parks already do for our communities. This includes play, culture, connection, nature, and health. It also invites people to experience their local parks in new ways.

Australasian Parks Week is not about creating lots of new events. It’s about highlighting what’s already happening and encouraging simple, local ways for communities to connect with their parks.

What we’re asking our members to do

Between 2–9 March 2026, we’re inviting our members to celebrate parks and open spaces by:

Promoting Australasian Parks Week through your website, social media, community networks, and local media.
Highlighting the parks you manage, support, or care for.
Encouraging your community to use, value, care for, and enjoy their parks.
Sharing stories that show the role parks play in everyday life.

You don’t need to run something new. You can simply:

Share the parks work and activities you already do.
Show how your spaces and places support local wellbeing and connection.
Use existing content, photos, or updates to take part in Australasian Parks Week.

Simple ways to activate Australasian Parks Week

Many organisations already run activities that fit perfectly within Australasian Parks Week. You might:

Promote a planting day, working bee, or litter clean-up.
Host yoga, walking groups, or wellbeing sessions in the park.
Run creative activities like chalk art, pop-up art, or “art in the park”.
Trial playful ideas like speed-dating in the park or picnic meet-ups.
Share local history or cultural tours of a local park or area.
Partner with libraries to showcase books about parks and nature.
Work with relevant community groups and organisations like Parkrun to promote Australasian Park Week.
Host games days or family play sessions.
Create something whimsical like a fairy grotto or story trail.
Have staff, a councillor, or MP pick their favourite local park.
Highlight local award-winning spaces, like Green Flag Award® parks.
Run a market in the park.

If it helps people connect with their local park, it belongs in Australasian Parks Week.

Why parks matter

Parks are essential green infrastructure.

They support:

Physical and mental wellbeing
Climate resilience and natural water management
Urban cooling and shade
Biodiversity and habitat
Social connection and cultural expression
Children’s play and lifelong recreation.

Global organisations like UN-Habitat recognise parks and green spaces as critical infrastructure for healthy, resilient cities. Australasian Parks Week is our chance to tell that story locally, in ways people can see, feel and experience.

Your role in the story

Australasian Parks Week only works if it’s owned locally. The power sits with you and your community.

Use the week to:

Celebrate your parks
Invite people into them
Tell better stories about what they give us
Remind decision-makers that parks are vital infrastructure.

Small actions, shared widely, create a big story.

Keen to get involved?

Download Parks Week collateral on SharePoint

Remember to tag us in any social media posts you do and use the hashtag #ParksWeek2026 so we can see it.