Please scroll down this page for details of the peace vigils held on Monday, 4 August, to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One. The vigils were coordinated nationwide by Peace Movement Aotearoa - in association with Quakers - as part of Peace Movement Aotearoa's World War One Centenary Peace Project, and have three themes: remembrance, ending war, and promoting peace. More information about the peace vigil series is available here, and information about the three themes and the messages of the vigils is available here. Photos and media coverage are available here. If you would like to be involved in organising a future peace vigil in your area, please contact Peace Movement Aotearoa.

• Hokianga - Candlelit peace vigil at 6pm, at the Opononi boat ramp. Please bring your own candle, placards and banners will be available at the vigil. Organised by Hokianga Catholic Workers, for more information please email.
• Waiwera - Candlelit peace vigil at 6pm, at the south end of Waiwera beach. Organised by local peace people, for more information please email.
• Auckland - Candlelit peace vigil from 6pm to 6.30pm, at the Devonport War Memorial, cnr Victoria Street and King Edward Parade, Devonport. Please bring your own candle, placards and banners will be available at the vigil. Organised by WILPF Tamaki Makaurau and Pax Christi, for more information please email - A4 poster available here - Facebook event listing.
• Waiheke - Candlelit peace vigil from 6pm to 7pm at the war memorial, corner of Belgium Street and Ostend Road. Organised by Waiheke Quakers, for more information please email.
• Hamilton - Candlelit peace vigil, at 6pm in front of the Hamilton City Library in Garden Place. Organised by Hamilton Quakers, in conjunction with AVP Maori Focus, for more information please email.
• Tauranga - Torchlight silent peace vigil, from 5pm to 9 pm at the Edgewater Fan, The Strand. Please bring a small torch and a sign with your message. Any sign must be free standing or held and not fixed to trees or structures. The area is liquor free. We welcome everyone who feels they wish to show their concern for the victims of the human tragedies due to the conflicts and wars which are every day news. Violence is not OK. Our combined hope is that peaceful solutions will be found to resolve grievances. Organised by Tauranga Quakers and the Tauranga Interfaith Council, for more information please email.
• Gisborne - Lest we forget: candle light vigil for peace, gather at 5.30pm at the Wi Pere Memorial on Reads Quay (on the corner of Lowe Street), to walk as a group over Peel Street Bridge to the site of the Statue of the Soldier. Please bring a candle in a jar, an LED candle, a glowstick, a torch, any safe light to illuminate the dark. Organised by the Tairawhiti Interfaith Group, for more information please email - A4 poster available here.
• Napier - Light a candle for peace / prayer vigil, from 12 noon to 12.30pm, St John's Cathedral, 28 Browning Street. You are invited to bring your own prayers / reflections to share with others, the emphasis is on remembering, on praying for an end to all war and for the promotion of the peaceful resolution of all conflict. People of all faiths and churches are invited to bring their own prayers or reflections to share with others. Organised by the Cathedral Environment, Justice and Peace Network, for more information please email.
• Whanganui - Peace vigil from 12 noon to 12.30pm in Majestic Square. Organised by Whanganui Quakers and Operation Peace Through Unity, for more information please email.
• Fielding - Details available on request.
• Otaki - Candlelit peace vigil from 6pm to 6.30pm at the Otaki War Memorial, 6 Main Street, next to the Otaki theatre. Organised by Kapiti Quakers and Otaki Catholic Workers, for more information please email.
• Lower Hutt - World War One Memorial Vigil for Peace, from 6pm to 6.20pm in the carpark outside 153 Randwick Road, Moera. To remember all who have died or suffered in war - soldiers, civilians, war resisters - to end war as a response to conflict, and to promote peace in all that we do. Let us begin commemorations of World War One - the 'war to end all wars' - by praying for an end to all war. Organised by the local intentional Christian community, for more information please email - A4 poster available here - Facebook event listing.
• Wellington - Candlelit peace vigil from 6pm to 6.30pm at the Cenotaph, corner Bowen Street and Lambton Quay. Please bring your own candle, placards and banners will be available at the vigil. Organised by Peace Movement Aotearoa, for more information please email - A4 poster available here - Facebook event listing.
• Blenheim - Lest we forget: candlelit peace vigil at 6pm at the Seymour Square Memorial, help to find an alternative to war to solve our differences. Organised by Blenheim Quakers, for more information please email - A4 poster available here.
• Nelson - Candlelit peace vigil from 5.30pm to 6.30pm at the Cathedral Steps, Trafalgar Street. Please being your candle to mark the anniversary and to highlight our collective belief that conflict must be resolved peacefully rather than by war. Organised by Nelson Quakers, for more information please email - A4 poster available here.
• Lower Moutere - 'Promoting peace' vigil at 6pm at the Riverside Centre, 289 Main Road, Lower Moutere (Moutere Highway). The Inakord choir will sing, followed by a reading and a minute’s silence; please bring your own candles. Organised by the Riverside Community - Facebook event listing.
• Takaka - Silent candlelit vigil at 6pm on Village Green, with an earlier gathering there for information sharing at 12.30pm. Organised by Golden Bay Quakers, for more information please email.
• Dunedin - Candlelit procession at 5.45pm from First Church, 415 Moray Place, to the Cenotaph, Queens Gardens - the candlelit peace vigil will be at 6pm at the Cenotaph and will include a time of silence and speakers. Organised by Dunedin Quakers, in conjunction with the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, for more information please email - A4 poster available here.
• Invercargill - Details will be available soon.