National Days calendar for 2021

Celebrating National Days, Weeks, and Months on Social Media - Ultimate Guide


Samantha Scott

Jan 12, 2021

Your day as a social media manager is chaotic enough, which is why planning is your best friend. We all know the benefits of a social media calendar, but you don’t always have a post for every day of the week. That’s where National Chocolate Cake Day (January 27th) comes in! No, not to eat...or well, sure you can eat some cake too, but mostly to post about it! Let us help make your job as a social media manager easier.

Invite your followers to engage in the full range of National Days, from silly and fun to important and reverent. And in case you’re stuck on how to incorporate an appreciation day into your content calendar, we’ve included some suggestions!

So get ready to share in our collective enthusiasm for pie, pistachios, poetry and more with our ultimate guide to national days, national weeks, national months, and every type of celebration you can imagine*.

*Disclaimer: Is this an exhaustive list? No. But it’s pretty close. We left off some dates that we felt would not be relevant, but tried to be as comprehensive as possible - covering a multitude of topics that would be applicable to numerous industries and types of businesses.

Looking for printable chronological scannability? Download the calendar

Table of Contents

1. National Days - Covid-19 Front & Center

Some more obscure national days may have been gathering dust for the past decade or so, except among niche industries, but we predict they’ll be under a much brighter spotlight in 2021.


2. National Days by Category

Got something specific in mind and don’t have the time to mine through each month separately? We get it - you’re busy and you have tweets to send and TikToks to make! Which is why we’ve separated out the national days into categories for easy searching:

3. Should you share?

Avoid the pitfalls of an uncouth online exchange by avoiding, or carefully weighing the pros and cons, when promoting these select few national days.

1. National Days - Covid-19 Front & Center

Use these national days to celebrate our hard working nurses, doctors, EMTs, and teachers. Encourage hand washing and bring humor to our new WFH reality. And remember when everyone was making bread?

Special days to promote on social media when thinking about Covid-19:

Health

  • April 7th. World Health Day
  • National Immunization Month: August 
  • September 17th. International Patient Safety Day 
  • October 10th. World Mental Health Day
  • October 15th. Global Handwashing Day
  • December 12th. International Universal Health Coverage Day
  • National Handwashing Awareness Week: December 1st - 7th

Appreciation

  • January 12th. National Pharmacist Day
  • February 3rd. National Women Physicians Day
  • February 4th. National Thank a Mail Carrier Day
  • May 4th. National Teacher Day
  • May 6th. National Nurses Day
  • May 21st. National Waitstaff Day
  • Teacher Appreciation Week: May 3rd - May 7th
  • National Nurses Week: May 6th - May 12th
  • National EMS Week: May 16th - May 22nd
  • June 1st. Global Day of Parents
  • September 25th. World Pharmacist Day
  • October 2nd. National Custodian Day
  • October 5th. World Teachers Day
  • October 9th. World Post Day
  • October 19th. National Pharmacy Technician Day
  • October 20th. National Medical Assistants Day
  • October 28th. National First Responders Day

Fun

  • January 15th. National Hat Day
  • April 16th. Wear Pajamas to Work Day 
  • June 2nd. National Leave the Office Early Day
    Ahh, time to commute from the kitchen to the living room.
  • November 12th. National Happy Hour Day
  • November 17th. National Homemade Bread Day

Fun Fact: “Sales of yeast, which is used to make bread and other baked goods, grew 647% in the week ending March 21, compared to the same week in 2019, according to Nielsen data. No other grocery product tracked by Nielsen experienced such rapid sales growth in that seven-day period.” (Business Insider)

Work & School

  • August 31st. World Distance Learning Day
  • September 15th. National Online Learning Day
  • November 6th. National Team Manager Day
  • November 27th. Small Business Saturday

2. National Days by Category

We’ve separated out the national days into categories for easy searching:

National Food Days

Nuts

  • January 26th. National Peanut Brittle Day
  • February 26th. National Pistachio Day
  • May 17th. National Walnut Day
  • September 13th. National Peanut Day 
  • November - National Peanut Butter Lovers Month

Chocolate

  • January 27th. National Chocolate Cake Day
  • January 31st. National Hot Chocolate Day
  • February 28th. National Chocolate Soufflé Day
  • May 15th. National Chocolate Chip Day
  • June 7th. National Chocolate Ice Cream Day
  • July 27th. National Milk Chocolate Day
  • August 4th. National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
    Fun Fact: the Chocolate Chip Cookie is the official state cookie of Massachusetts
  • September 12th. National Chocolate Milkshake Day
  • September 16th. National Choose Your Chocolate Day
  • September 22nd. National White Chocolate Day
  • October 18th. National Chocolate Cupcake Day 
  • December 28th. National Chocolate Candy Day

Bread

  • January 21st. National Banana Bread Day
  • March 21st. National French Bread Day
  • October 29th. National Breadstick Day
  • November 17th. National Homemade Bread Day

Ice Cream

  • January 15th. National Strawberry Ice Cream Day 
  • June 7th. National Chocolate Ice Cream Day
  • National Ice Cream Month: July
    Fun Fact: Ice Cream Month was declared by President Ronald Reagan in 1984
  • September 22nd. National Ice Cream Cone Day
  • August 2nd. National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

There are even more national food days to discover! Download the calendar >

National Drink Days

Cocktails & Liquor

  • January 17th. National Hot Buttered Rum Day
  • January 25th. National Irish Coffee Day
  • May 9th. National Moscato Day
  • May 13th. World Cocktail Day
    Fun Fact: A Bourbon Old Fashioned is consistently ranked as the #1 most popular cocktail in the world
  • May 16th. National Mimosa Day
  • May 30th. National Mint Julep Day
  • June 14th. National Bourbon Day
  • June 19th. National Martini Day
    Fun Fact: Most bartenders disagree with James Bond and would prefer a stirred martini over shaken
  • July 10th. National Pina Colada Day
  • July 11th. National Mojito Day
  • July 19th. National Daiquiri Day 
  • July 24th. National Tequila Day
  • July 27th. National Scotch Day
  • August 16th. National Rum Day
  • September 20th. National Punch Day
  • October 4th. National Vodka Day
  • October 16th. National Liquor Day
  • November 12th. National Happy Hour Day
  • December 8th. National Bartender Day
  • December 20th. National Sangria Day
  • December 21st. National Coquito Day

Wine

  • February 18th. National Drink Wine Day
  • May 25th. National Wine Day
    Idea: Encourage #recycling and have your followers share some fun uses for corks and empty wine bottles!
  • June 12th. National Rosé Day
  • August 3rd. National White Wine Day 
  • August 13th. National Prosecco Day
  • August 28th. National Red Wine Day
    Fun Fact: Cabernet Sauvignon is the most popular red wine in the world
  • December 31st. National Champagne Day

Beer

  • April 7th. National Beer Day
    Fun Fact: The Czech Republic consumes the most beer per capita per year
  • June 3rd. World Cider Day
  • August 6th. International Beer Day
  • September 28th. National Drink Beer Day
  • November 4th. International Stout Day
  • December 10th. National Lager Day 

Non-alcoholic

  • January 31st. National Hot Chocolate Day
  • January: Hot Tea Month
    Idea: Share a favorite type of tea each day - there are 20,000 different varieties to choose from!
  • April 21st. National Tea Day
  • April 30th. National Bubble Tea Day
  • May 8th. National Have a Coke Day
  • June 10th. National Iced Tea Day
    Fun Fact: Iced Tea became popular after it was featured at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis
  • June 20th. National Vanilla Milkshake Day
  • July 26th. National Coffee Milkshake Day
  • August 6th. National Root Beer Float Day 
  • August 20th. National Lemonade Day
    Idea: Ask your online community to share their favorite old lemonade stand pictures to encourage entrepreneurship among young people. Here are 15 Famous Lemonade Stand Stories!
  • September 12th. National Chocolate Milkshake Day
  • October 1st. International Coffee Day
    Fun Fact: According to Wikipedia “Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world daily”. 😮☕
  • November 8th. National Cappuccino Day
  • November 23rd. National Espresso Day
  • December 24th. National Eggnog Day

Looking for national days in March? Download the calendar >

Public Figures

  • January 3rd. JRR Tolkien Day
  • January 17th. Benjamin Franklin Day
    Finally a chance to use the Kite emoji! 🪁
  • January 18th. MLK Day
  • January 25th. Burns Night
  • March 2nd. Dr. Seuss’s birthday
  • May 22nd. Harvey Milk Day
  • June 25th. Bourdain Day
  • June 25th. Global Beatles Day
    Fun Fact: The Beatles and Taylor Swift are the only two artists to have 5 albums spend at least 6 weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard 200
  • June 27th. Helen Keller Day
  • July 18th. Nelson Mandela International Day
  • December 17th. Wright Brothers Day

Who else should you celebrate? Download the national days calendar for even more ideas >

Pop Culture

  • January 2nd. Science Fiction Day
  • January 11th. Gotham Independent Film Awards
  • January 18th. National Winnie the Pooh Day
  • January 28th. National & International Lego Day 
  • February 13th. Galentines Day
  • February 28th. Golden Globe Awards
  • March 7th. Critics Choice Awards
  • March 9th. National Barbie Day
  • March 12th. Alfred Hitchcock Day
    Idea: Challenge your followers to share their best Hitchock-esque photo using your product. Create a special contest hashtag for easy searching!
  • March 14th. Screen Actors Guild Awards
  • April 11th. 74th Bafta Awards
  • April 24th. Film Independent Spirit Awards
  • April 25th. 93rd Academy Awards
  • April 28th. National Superhero Day
    Idea: Share real-world superhero stories! For example: in 2018 window washers dressed as comic book characters to surprise the young patients at Blank Children's Hospital in Iowa 🥰
  • May 2nd. International Harry Potter Day 
  • May 4th. Star Wars Day
    Idea: Lift your team's spirits and send an inspiring message using the Star Wars text scroller!
  • May 21st. National Talk Like Yoda Day
  • August 1st. Spider-Man Day
  • August 14th. Free Comic Book Day
  • September 12th. National Video Games Day
  • September 19th. Talk Like a Pirate Day
    Idea: Ask your followers to share their favorite pirate fact!
    September 21st. Batman Day
  • September 22nd. Hobbit day
  • September 25th. National Comic Book Day
  • September 30th. International Podcast Day
    Idea: Is starting a podcast part of your marketing goals this year? Run a contest on your social channels to gather topic and guest suggestions from your followers!
  • October 6th. National Mad Hatter Day
    Fun Fact: This date was chosen because of the numbers on the Mad Hatters hat
  • October 15th. National I Love Lucy Day
    Fun Fact: Are you a Star Trek fan? You have Lucille Ball to thank! She was instrumental in getting the Original Series aired. Her studio bought the show from Gene Rodenberry! All in a day's work.
  • October 21st. Back to the Future Day
    Fun Fact: The true Back to the Future Day is in our past (though it was Marty McFly's future: October 21st, 2015), but we can still celebrate this iconic trilogy!
  • November 18th. Mickey Mouse Day
  • November 21st. World Television Day
  • December 8th. Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day

Looking for more fun national days? Get the national days calendar >

Sports Events in 2021

  • 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships: January 11th - 21st
  • February 7th. Super Bowl Sunday - Super Bowl LV
  • April 6th. National Student-Athlete Day
  • PGA Championship: May 20th - 23rd
  • US Open: June 17th - 20th
  • Wimbledon: June 28th - July 11th
  • July 13th. Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • 2020 Tokyo Olympics: July 23rd - August 8th
  • 2020 Paralympic Games: August 24th - September 5th
  • October 3rd. London Marathon
  • October 6th. National Coaches Day 
  • October 10th. Chicago Marathon
  • October 17th. Tokyo Marathon
  • November 7th. New York Marathon

Want to explore all the National days in May? Download the full calendar >

Official UN & UNESCO Days

  • January 24th. International Day of Education
    2021 theme: “Recover and Revitalize Education for the COVID-19 Generation”
  • February 13th. World Radio Day
    2021 theme: “New World, New Radio - Evolution, Innovation, Connection”
  • March 3rd. World Wildlife Day @wildlifeday #WorldWildlifeDay #WWD2021 #WWD #Wildlife  
  • March 8th. International Women's Day @womensday #ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021
  • March 20th. International Day of Happiness @actionhappiness #HappierWorld #InternationalDayofHappiness
  • March 21st. International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
  • March 21st. World Down Syndrome Day @WorldDSDay #WDSD #DownSyndromeAwareness
  • March 21st. World Poetry Day
    Idea: Run a contest challenging your followers to submit a poem about how much they enjoy your product!
  • March 22nd. World Water Day @UN_Water #Water2Me
  • April 2nd. World Autism Awareness Day @autismspeaks
  • April 15th. World Art Day
  • April 20th. Chinese Language Day 
  • April 21st. World Creativity & Innovation Day
  • April 22nd. Earth Day @EarthDayNetwork
  • April 23rd. World Book & Copyright Day
  • April 30th. International Jazz Day @IntlJazzDay
  • May 2nd. World Tuna Day
  • May 3rd. World Press Freedom Day 
  • May 5th. African World Heritage Day #MyAfricaHeritage #ShareOurHeritage
  • May 15th. International Day of Families
  • May 16th. Living in Peace Day
  • May 20th. World Bee Day
    Fun Fact: Honey Bees visit between 50-100 flowers during a collection trip!
  • June 1st. Global Day of Parents
  • June 3rd. World Bicycle Day
  • June 5th. World Environment Day @UNEP
  • June 7th. World Food Safety Day
  • June 8th. World Oceans Day @WorldOceansDay #WorldOceansDay #ProtectOurHome
  • June 20th. World Refugee Day
  • June 21st. International Yoga Day
  • June 23rd. United Nations Public Service Day
  • June 30th. International Asteroid Day @AsteroidDay
  • July 20th. International Chess Day
  • July 30th. International Day of Friendship
    Idea: Share your favorite unconventional, unique, or inspiring friendships!
  • August 9th. International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
  • August 12th. International Youth Day
  • August 19th. World Humanitarian Day
  • September 5th. International Day of Charity
  • September 7th. International Day of Clean Air / Clean Air Day
  • September 8th. International Literacy Day @WorldLiteracy
  • September 15th. International Day of Democracy
  • September 18th. International Equal Pay Day
  • September 21st. International Day of Peace @PeaceDay
  • September 27th. World Tourism Day
    Idea: Did your followers have to cancel vacation plans in 2020? Run a contest to help a lucky winner get their bucket list back on track in 2021.
  • September 28th. International Day for Universal Access to Information #AccesstoInfoDay #RighttoKnow
  • September 30th. International Translation Day
  • October 1st. International Day of Older Persons
  • October 2nd. International Day of Non-Violence
  • October 4th. World Habitat Day
  • October 5th. World Teachers Day
    Idea: Create a tribute video from your team, sharing stories of the teachers that influenced them to pursue their career
  • October 9th. World Post Day
  • October 16th. World Food Day
  • October 17th. End Poverty Day
  • October 24th. United Nations Day
  • October 31st. World Cities Day
  • October 10th. World Science Day for Peace and Development
  • October 14th. World Diabetes Day @WDD
  • October 16th. International Day for Tolerance
  • October 20th. World Children's Day
  • November 18th. International Islamic Art Day
  • November 21st. World Television Day
    Fun Fact:  The series finale of M*A*S*H is the highest rated Broadcast of all time. It aired in 1983.
  • November 25th. International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
  • November 26th. World Olive Tree Day
  • December 1st. World AIDS Day @NAT_AIDS_Trust
  • December 3rd. International Day of Persons with Disabilities
  • December 10th. Human Rights Day
  • December 11th. International Mountain Day
  • December 12th. International Day of Neutrality
  • December 12th. International Universal Health Coverage Day
  • December 18th. Arabic Language Day
  • December 18th. International Migrants Day 

Want to explore all the National days in August? Download the full calendar >

National Days to Help the Environment

  • March 18th. Global Recycling Day @GlbRecyclingDay
  • March 20th. Great British Spring Clean Day @keepbritaintidy #LoveWhereYouLive #ContinueTheCleanup
  • March 21st. International Day of Forests
  • March 27th. Earth Hour Day @earthhour #EarthHour #Connect2Earth
  • April 22nd. Earth Day @EarthDayNetwork
  • April 30th. Arbor Day @arborday #TimeforTrees
  • May 8th. World Migratory Bird Day @worldmigratorybirdday #BirdsConnectOurWorld #BirdsKnowNoBorders
  • June 5th. World Environment Day @UNEP
  • June 8th. World Oceans Day @WorldOceansDay #WorldOceansDay #ProtectOurHome
  • July 3rd. International Plastic Bag Free Day
  • September 7th. International Day of Clean Air / Clean Air Day
  • September 18th. World Cleanup Day @WorldCleanupDay 
  • September 26th. Johnny Appleseed Day
  • October 10th. World Migratory Bird Day @WMBD
  • November 15th. National Recycling Day 

Curious to discover what other national days are in April? Check out our calendar >

National Days to Celebrate Animals

  • March 3rd. World Wildlife Day @wildlifeday #WorldWildlifeDay #WWD2021 #WWD #Wildlife
  • March 13th. National K9 Veterans Day
  • March 16th. National Panda Day
  • March 23rd. National Puppy Day
  • April 11th. National Pet Day @NationalPetDay
  • April 25th. World Penguin Day
  • April 28th. International Guide Dog Day
  • May 20th. World Bee Day
  • May 21st. National Endangered Species Day @endangered
  • June 20th. National American Eagle Day @AEFeagles
  • July 13th. Cow Appreciation Day
    Fun Fact: Research has shown that cows have best friends! 
  • July 31st. National Mutt Day @NationalMuttDay
  • August 8th. International Cat Day
    Idea: It seems cat memes have been around since the birth of the internet. Invite your followers to share their favorites!
  • September 22nd National Elephant Appreciation Day
  • October 4th. World Animal Day @worldanimalday
  • October 20th. International Sloth Day
  • October 21st. National Reptile Day
  • October 26th. Pit Bull Awareness Day
  • November 6th. National Bison Day
  • December 9th. National Llama Day
  • December 10th. International Animal Rights Day @OPTT_NARD
  • December 13th. National Horse Day

Download the full national days calendar here >

National Technology Themed Days

  • January 6th. National Technology Day
  • February 9th. Safer Internet Day #SaferInternetDay #OnlineSafety #CyberSecurity
  • March 5th. National Day of Unplugging @TeamNDU
  • June 30th. Social Media Day
  • July 17th. World Emoji Day @WorldEmojiDay
    Idea: Challenge your followers to create an emoji-only post answering questions like "what do they like best about your product?" 😮
  • October 3rd. National Techies Day
  • October 29th. National Internet Day
  • November 8th. National STEM / STEAM Day
  • December 11th. National App Day

LGBTQ+ National Days

  • February 7th. National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day @CDC_HIVAIDS #NBHAAD #StopHIVTogether
  • April 23rd. Day of Silence @GLSEN #SupportSafeSchools #dayofsilence
  • May 16th. National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day
  • May 17th. International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia @may17org
  • Pride Month: June
  • September 18th. National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day @CDC_HIVAIDS
  • AIDS Awareness Month: October 
  • November 20th. Transgender Day of Remembrance
  • December 1st. World AIDS Day @NAT_AIDS_Trust

Reading Tip: 5 of the Most-Shared Pro-LGBTQ+ Articles of 2023 So Far

3. Should you share?

For social media managers, it’s important to stay up to date on cultural pulses to avoid posting in a way that may seem out of touch, controversial, or be insensitive - whether intentionally or unintentionally. 

Of course there’s no pleasing everyone. But as the world becomes more “woke,” there are certain lines that you want to be very careful about crossing. 

Now, if you do get in some hot water (it happens!) and you need to address your followers online swiftly and effectively, check out our Ultimate Guide for Crisis Communications.

We’re not here to tell you what to post or not post, however we do recommend using caution for the following national days:

National Days to Think Twice About Before Promoting on Social Media

  • January 26th. Australia Day 
    Why think twice? Many Australians are calling to #ChangeTheDate of this holiday and use the hashtags #InvasionDay and #SurvivalDay
  • February 8th. National Boy Scout Day
    Why think twice? The Boy Scouts continue to receive negative press over allegations of sexual abuse. 
  • November 11th. Columbus Day
    Why think twice? This holiday is now also commonly referred to as Indigenous Peoples Day to pay due respect and homage to the native people who already occupied the lands that Columbus claimed.
  • November 19th. International Men's Day
    Why think twice? Though created with the intention of promoting men's health, the day has received quite a bit of backlash. We recommend you proceed carefully when / if promoting.

And that's a wrap! What national days are you most excited to promote this year?