PNG Public Holidays, School Exams, Term Holidays and Cultural Shows 2024

The dates may change but here are the Public Holidays, School Exams, Term Holidays and Cultural Shows as seen in the past years. You may have to confirm the PNG public holiday dates when the National Gazette 2024 comes out. 

Check out the 2024 Gazetted Public Holiday PDF file here and download it!

As for the Terms holiday, check out the Department of Education website or this post for the latest term holidays and examination dates.

For cultural shows and events in Papua New Guinea, please visit the organisers' website, and Facebook pages or contact them directly if you are planning a trip.

PNG Public Holidays, School Term Holidays and Cultural Show Dates

Public Holidays in PNG

• New Year's Day 1 January
• Good Friday 19 April
• Easter 21 April
• Queen's Birthday 10 June
• National Remembrance Day 23 July
• Repentance Day 26 August
• Independence Day 16 September
• Christmas Day 25 December
• Boxing Day December 26 December

Papua New Guinea School Holidays

Here are the term months and holidays to take note of. Refer to the Department of Education website or check this article for the latest updates on term dates and holidays

       School Holidays   Month      Duration

• Term 1 Holiday     April         1 week
• Term 2 Holiday  July          2 weeks
• Term 3 Holiday     Sep          1 week)
• Term 4 Holiday     Dec          Christmas Holiday

PNG National Examinations

The national examinations in Papua New Guinea fall in the following months:

EXAMINATION                                    MONTH

• Grade 10 Written Expression Exam   June
• Grade 12 Written Expression Exam   August
• Grade 10 Major Examinations           October
• Grade 12 Major Examinations           October
• Grade 8 Examination                         October

The school year ends early in December 2024

PNG Cultural Shows and Dates

        SHOWS & FESTIVALS                  MONTH

• Tumbuna Festival Tour                     May
• Mask Festival, East New Britain      July
• Crocodile Festival, Sepik Region     August
• Mount Hagen Festival/Show            August
• Kalam Festival, Simbai                    September
• Goroka Show                                   September
• Kutubu Kundu & Digaso Festival     September
• Morobe Show                                  October
• Huhu War Canoe Festival               October
• Kenu & Kundu Festival                    November
• Karimui Show                                   November

Public Holidays, School Exams, Term Holidays and Cultural Shows 2024

If you are planning to visit the cultural event in the provinces, check with the local tour operators and guide before booking your trips.

You can check the latest examination dates and school term dates at the PNG education department's website. The private school terms are different, so check with your local schools to confirm the dates. 

FaceApp - Why You Should Delete or Never Install It

FaceApp is a mobile application for iOS and Android. The Face app is developed by a Russian company called the Wireless Lab.

How FaceApp Works

According to Wikipedia FaceApp uses artificial intelligence to generate highly realistic transformations of faces in photographs.

The app can change a person's face to make it smile, look younger, look older, or change gender.

The Russian developer Wireless Lab released the app in January 2017. It is becoming popular among young users who want to predict their appearances or play around with one's looks.

Access to iOS and Android photos

The viral smartphone application has seen a new surge of popularity. The app requires "full and irrevocable access to their personal photos and data". This could pose "... privacy risks for millions of users' according to one report from the US.

Many of the app's users will recall the breach of privacy laws in the US involving Facebook and Russians in a bid to influence the last presidential election.

What happened is that Facebook was slapped with US$5 Billion fine [Forbes report] for its part it this saga.

Unfortunately, other parties got away since they are in jurisdictions where privacy and data protection laws are weak.

So, next time you want to install FaceApp, ask yourself if that is the right app to use. And, importantly, would you want to give a Russian tech company *access* your phone?