flags on the flagstaff in the treaty grounds. Since 2018, members of the government, including the prime minister and members of parliament and their families have served a barbeque breakfast to members of the public following the dawn service. Throughout the day, cultural displays such as kapa haka (Māori dance and song), (educational discussions), and other entertainment take place on stages throughout the treaty grounds. Several waka and sometimes a navy ship also take part in demonstrations in the harbour. The day closes with the flags being lowered by the Navy in a traditional ceremony. Elsewhere in New Zealand Some marae use the day as an open day and an educational experience for their local communities, giving them the opportunity to experience Māori culture and protocol, or as an opportunity to explain where they see Māori are and the way forward for Māori in New Zealand. Commemorations are largely muted in comparison to those seen on the national days of most countries. There are no mass parades or firework displays, nor truly widespread commemorations. City councils, museums, libraries and galleries across New Zealand put on free programmes of public events commemorating Waitangi Day for example in 2023 Waikato Museum had Māori weaving demonstrations with Te Roopu Aroha Ki Te Raranga, live music and a film screening of the movie Whina. In Wellington there was a concert at Waitangi Park called Te Rā o Waitangi, an outdoor film event, waka salutes at Whairepo Lagoon, and bilingual tours of the exhibition Te Tohu at the National Library to see the original 1840 Te Tiriti o Waitangi document. The governor-general hosts an annual garden party for invited guests at Government House in Wellington. At Government House in Auckland, citizenship ceremonies are usually held. As the day is a public holiday, and coincides with the warmest part of the New Zealand summer, many people take the opportunity to spend the day at the beach—an important part of New Zealand culture. Since 2014, the New Zealand Society of Authors awards the Waitangi Day Literary Honours on Waitangi Day. In Australia At the Kingston Butter Factory in Kingston, Queensland, the Te Korowai Aroha (Cloak of Love) Association held a multicultural festival to mark Waitangi Day annually from 2002. In Sydney, an estimated 8,000 people attended the 2013 Waitangi Day Festival at Holroyd Gardens. The festival featured displays of artefacts, performance of a haka, and Māori culture