Armistice Day Centenary Commemorations

After four terrible years, World War I finally came to a close with the signing of an armistice between Germany and the Allied Powers on November 11, 1918.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns famously fell silent. 2018 marks the centenary of that armistice.

Around 100,000 New Zealanders – or 10 per cent of the population at the time – served overseas during the war, and more than 18,000 lost their lives.

Rotorua
Armistice commemoration Service and a special day of family activities in Government Gardens.
-10.30am: Service begins at Cenotaph with the City of Rotorua Highland Pipe Band
-The officiating Minister will be Reverend Tom Poata, with mayor Steve Chadwick giving the Armistice address
-11am: Ken Douglas will play the Last Post on his bugle before the two minute silence is observed
-11.05am: Ode to the Fallen will be read out by Bryce Morrison and a representative of the Te Arawa Returned Services League
-11.15am: Public are invited to lay wreaths and music will be performed by Evelyn Falconer and the Western Heights High School Choir
-11.30am: Celebrate the restored Te Arawa War Memorial
-12pm – 3pm: Bring a picnic, enjoy the food trucks or have afternoon tea at the Blue Baths. Also available: kids crafts, donkey rides, musical performances, WW1 books and old school games.
-12pm: Rotorua Highland Pipe Band parade
-12.10pm: Multicultural Rotorua costume parade
-12.10pm: Racco drums
-12.30pm: Rotorua Brass Band
-1pm: Finely Tuned perform war time favourites
-1.30pm: Interactive show with the Travelling Tuataras
-1.30pm: Live music with Back Porch
-2.30pm: Interactive show with the Travelling Tuataras

The Rotorua District Field of Remembrance will be installed in Government Gardens to mark the centennial anniversary of Armistice Day. Each of the named crosses in the Field of Remembrance represents a soldier from the Rotorua district, who lost their life while serving during World War I, 1914 - 1918. Located at the Cenotaph, The Field of Remembrance will be open to the public from November 7 until November 18. Visitors are welcome to walk among the crosses and place personal tributes.

Tauranga
-Homecomings: From Tauranga to the Trenches - October 12 to November 8 - Tauranga waterfront. The stories of our soldiers who made it back to Aotearoa will be told in a unique exhibition, accompanying the installation of the Field of Remembrance at the Tauranga waterfront. Homecomings, the final From Tauranga to the Trenches exhibition, explores the experiences of local soldiers returning home.

-Field of Remembrance – Honouring Our Fallen – October 17 to November 8 – Tauranga waterfront. 109 white crosses are at the heart of commemorating the armistice that ended World War I in 1918. The crosses will be installed at dawn in the lead-up to Armistice Day and form the Field of Remembrance. After all the crosses are installed, they will be relocated to Memorial Park, the location for the city's official Armistice Day Centenary Service.

-Armistice Centenary Service – November 11, 11am – Memorial Park, Devonport Rd. Tauranga will commemorate Armistice Day at Memorial Park, with two minutes silence, large-scale poppies painted by children from all over Tauranga and the Western Bay, and 109 white crosses united for our people to honour the fallen. The city's official Armistice Day service will begin with a march on at 10.45am, led by the Tauranga Pipe Band. Following two minutes silence, karakia and the mayor's welcome, a reverend will take the community through prayers and scripture readings. There will be an address from a military guest speaker, followed by the Roll of Honour where local students will lay poppies on the corresponding 109 white crosses.

-Armistice Poppy Installation – November 11 – 16, Memorial Park. 320 large-scale poppies, painted by students from local intermediate schools, will be placed around the cenotaph at Memorial Park for the commemoration of the centenary of Armistice Day at 11am on 11 November. This moving tribute is a collaboration between Tauranga City Council, The Incubator Creative Hub and schools in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty with the poppies providing an emotive setting for the marking of the centenary of Armistice Day.

Taupō
Armistice commemoration Service – 11am, Taupo War Memorial Cenotaph, Tongariro St
-10.45am: Mount Catafalque Guard
-10.50am: Welcome from Taupo Returned Services Ass president Barry Calder
-National Anthem
-Opening prayer
-11am: Last Post
-Ode to the fallen
-A moments silence
-Rouse
-Armistice Day address