Do you celebrate International Cat Day, Pizza Day, or Talk Like a Pirate Day?
There are a plethora of observance days worldwide during which marketers can share content relevant to their industries, get involved in a movement, or simply generate more awareness. But odds are, you probably don’t acknowledge these days until you see your favorite brand posting about it.
These social media “holidays” are a fun way to connect with new and existing followers who share an affinity for a specific food, fictional character, or pet.
While we don’t suggest sharing content on social media and then adding an irrelevant holiday hashtag to it, these holidays can be a chance to promote your brand in a relevant way. Not doing so could cause you to miss valuable opportunities where your brand can join the conversations taking place among members of your target audience.
To help you plan for trending holidays, we created a list that you can bookmark, as well as a downloadable calendar so you can receive automatic reminders.
To help you keep track of all these unique holidays, here’s a Social Media Holiday Google Calendar.
Aside from 2023 holidays, we’ve also set dates on the calendar to repeat annually — either on the exact date they occur or the weekday they occur within the month.
Want to finish out your 2023 calendar with some upcoming holiday posts? Tap the + symbol in the lower right-hand corner of the calendar below to add it to your own Google calendar.
Use the Above Template to Plan Out Your Social Media Holiday Posts
First up, let’s cover the social media holidays that will roll around every year but can drastically change dates. The following holidays don’t have the same date each year — but they’re absolutely worth adding to your social media calendar.
Clean Off Your Desk Day #CleanOffYourDeskDay: Second Monday of January
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day #MLKDay: Third Monday of January
Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay: Third Thursday of January
Community Manager Appreciation Day #CMAD: Fourth Monday of January
Chinese New Year #ChineseNewYear: First Two Weeks of February (Varies Each Year)
Safer Internet Day #SID2023: Second Tuesday of February
Super Bowl Sunday #SBLV #SuperBowlSunday #SuperBowl: Second Sunday in February
Presidents Day #PresidentsDay: Third Monday of February
Mardi Gras #MardiGras: Last Week of February – First Week of March (Varies Each Year)
National Employee Appreciation Day #EmployeeAppreciationDay: First Friday of March
National Day of Unplugging #NationalDayOfUnplugging: First Friday of March
Popcorn Lover’s Day #PopcornLoversDay: Second Thursday of March
Daylight Savings #DaylightSavings: Second Sunday of March
National Napping Day #NationalNappingDay: The Day after Daylight Savings
Equal Pay Day #EqualPayDay: Varies Between March and November Each Year
World Sleep Day #WorldSleepDay: The Friday Before Spring Vernal Equinox
American Diabetes Association Alert Day #AmericanDiabetesAssociationAlertDay: Fourth Tuesday of March
Earth Hour Day #EarthHour: Last Saturday of March
National High-Five Day #NH5D: Third Thursday of April
Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay: Third Thursday of April
Denim Day #DenimDay: Last Wednesday in April
National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day #COUNTONME: Fourth Thursday in April
Arbor Day #ArborDay: Last Friday in April (May Vary by State)
World Asthma Day #WorldAsthmaDay: First Tuesday of May
National Teacher Appreciation Day #ThankATeacher: First Tuesday of the First Full Week of May
World Password Day #WorldPasswordDay: First Thursday of May
Space Day #SpaceDay: First Friday of May
Mother’s Day #MothersDay: Second Sunday of May
National Receptionist Day #NationalReceptionistDay: Second Wednesday of May
National Bike to Work Day #BTWD: Third Friday of May
Endangered Species Day #EndangeredSpeciesDay: Third Friday of May
National Red Nose Day #RedNoseDay: Last Thursday of May
Heat Awareness Day #NoFryDay: Last Friday of May
Memorial Day #MemorialDay #MDW: Last Monday of May
National Donut Day #NationalDonutDay: First Friday of June
National Cancer Survivors Day #NCSD2023: First Sunday of June
International Children’s Day #ChildrensDay: Second Sunday of June
Father’s Day #FathersDay: Third Sunday of June
Take Your Dog to Work Day #TakeYourDogToWorkDay: First Friday after Juneteenth
National Handshake Day #HandshakeDay: Last Thursday of June
Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay: Third Thursday of July
Talk in an Elevator Day #TalkInAnElevatorDay: Last Friday of July
Labor Day #LaborDay: First Monday of September
Stand Up To Cancer Day #KissCancerGoodbye: Second Friday of September
National Grandparents Day #NationalGrandparentsDay: First Sunday After Labor Day
National Women’s Health and Fitness Day #FitnessDay: Last Wednesday of September
World Habitat Day #WorldHabitatDay: First Monday of October
World Smile Day #WorldSmileDay: First Friday of October
World Sight Day #WorldSightDay: Second Thursday of October
Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay: Third Thursday of October
National Stress Awareness Day #StressAwarenessDay: First Wednesday of November
Daylight Saving Time Ends #DaylightSavings: First Sunday of November
National Entrepreneurs Day #EntrepreneursDay: Third Tuesday of November
Thanksgiving Day #Thanksgiving: Fourth Thursday of November
National Day of Listening #DayOfListening: The Day After Thanksgiving
Small Business Saturday #ShopSmall: Last Saturday of November
National Salesperson Day #SalespersonDay: Second Friday of December
The list isn’t exhaustive (there are a lot of food-specific holidays out there), and these dates and hashtags may still be subject to change. But this is a great starting point for social media marketers who want to learn more about what’s trending and how they can plan their content in a way that will be fun and engaging on social platforms.
January 2023 Social Media Holidays
February 2023 Social Media Holidays
March 2023 Social Media Holidays
April 2023 Social Media Holidays
May 2023 Social Media Holidays
June 2023 Social Media Holidays
July 2023 Social Media Holidays
August 2023 Social Media Holidays
September 2023 Social Media Holidays
October 2023 Social Media Holidays
November 2023 Social Media Holidays
December 2023 Social Media Holidays
January 1: New Year’s Day #NewYearsDay
January 2: Science Fiction Day #ScienceFictionDay
January 4: National Trivia Day #NationalTriviaDay
January 5: National Bird Day #NationalBirdDay
January 11: Human Trafficking Awareness Day #HumanTraffickingDay
January 13: National Sticker Day #NationalStickerDay
January 15: National Hat Day #NationalHatDay
January 20: Cheese Lovers Day #CheeseLoversDay
January 21: National Hugging Day #NationalHuggingDay
January 24: National Compliment Day #NationalComplimentDay
January 25: Opposite Day #OppositeDay
January 28: Data Privacy Day #PrivacyAware
February 1 – 28: Black History Month
February 2: Groundhog Day #GroundhogDay
February 2: World Wetlands Day #WorldWetlandsDay
February 4: World Cancer Day #WorldCancerDay
February 5: National Weatherperson’s Day #NationalWeatherpersonsDay
February 7: National Send a Card to a Friend Day #SendACardToAFriendDay
February 8: National Boy Scouts Day #BoyScoutsDay
February 9: National Pizza Day #NationalPizzaDay
February 11: Inventors Day #InventorsDay
February 13: World Radio Day #WorldRadioDay
February 14: Valentine’s Day #ValentinesDay
February 17: Random Acts of Kindness Day #RandomActsOfKindnessDay
February 18: National Battery Day #NationalBatteryDay
February 20: World Day of Social Justice #SocialJusticeDay
February 20: Love Your Pet Day #LoveYourPetDay
February 21: International Mother Language Day #IMLD
March 2: National Read Across America Day #ReadAcrossAmerica & #DrSeuss
March 3: World Wildlife Day #WorldWildlifeDay
March 4: National Grammar Day #NationalGrammarDay
March 6: National Dentist’s Day #DentistsDay
March 7: National Be Heard Day #NationalBeHeardDay
March 7: National Cereal Day #NationalCerealDay
March 8: International Women’s Day #BeBoldForChange
March 8: National Proofreading Day #NationalProofreadingDay
March 10: National Pack Your Lunch Day #NationalPackYourLunchDay
March 10: National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day #NWGHAAD
March 11: National Worship of Tools Day #WorshipOfToolsDay
March 12: National Girl Scout Day #GirlScoutDay
March 14: Potato Chip Day #NationalPotatoChipDay
March 14: Pi Day #PiDay (To go the extra mile, post this at 1:59, as Pi equals 3.14159…)
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day #WorldConsumerRightsDay
March 16: National Freedom of Information Day #FreedomOfInformationDay
March 17: St. Patrick’s Day #StPatricksDay
March 18: Awkward Moments Day #NationalAwkwardMomentsDay
March 19: National Let’s Laugh Day #NationalLetsLaughDay
March 20: International Day of Happiness #InternationalDayofHappiness
March 20: World Storytelling Day #WorldStorytellingDay
March 20: First Day of Spring #FirstDayofSpring
March 21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination #RacialDiscriminationDay
March 21: World Poetry Day #WorldPoetryDay
March 22: World Water Day #WorldWaterDay
March 23: National Puppy Day #NationalPuppyDay
March 25: Tolkien Reading Day #TolkienReadingDay
March 26: National Spinach Day #NationalSpinachDay
March 26: Purple Day #PurpleDay
March 30: Doctor’s Day #NationalDoctorsDay
March 30: National Take a Walk in the Park Day #NationalWalkInTheParkDay
March 31: World Backup Day #WorldBackupDay
March 31: Transgender Day of Visibility #TDOV
April 1 – 30: National Stress Awareness Month
April 1: April Fools Day #AprilFools
April 2: World Autism Awareness Day #WAAD
April 3: Find a Rainbow Day #FindARainbowDay
April 4: Hug a Newsperson Day #HugANewsperson
April 6: National Walking Day #NationalWalkingDay
April 7: World Health Day #LetsTalk
April 10: National Siblings Day #NationalSiblingsDay
April 10: Encourage a Young Writer Day #EncourageAYoungWriterDay
April 11: National Pet Day #NationalPetDay
April 12: International Day of Human Space Flight #InternationalDayOfHumanSpaceFlight
April 15: National Tax Day #TaxDay
April 16: National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day #PJDay
April 17: Haiku Poetry Day #HaikuPoetryDay
April 18: National Columnists’ Day #NationalColumnistDay
April 20: National Look-Alike Day #NationalLookAlikeDay
April 21: National Administrative Professionals Day #AdministrativeProfessionalsDay
April 22: Earth Day #EarthDay2023
April 23: National Picnic Day #NationalPicnicDay
April 23: World Book Day #WorldBookDay
April 25: National Telephone Day #NationalTelephoneDay
April 25: World Malaria Day #EndMalariaForGood
April 29: International Dance Day #InternationalDanceDay
April 30: National Honesty Day #NationalHonestyDay
April 30: National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day #AdoptAShelterPetDay
April 30: International Jazz Day #JazzDay
May 1: May Day #MayDay
May 1: International Workers Day #IntWorkersDay
May 3: World Press Freedom Day #WPFD2023 #PressFreedom
May 4: Star Wars Day #StarWarsDay & #Maythe4thBeWithYou
May 4: International Firefighters Day #InternationalFirefightersDay
May 5: Cinco de Mayo #CincoDeMayo
May 6: National Nurses Day #NursesDay
May 9: Europe Day #EuropeDay
May 12: National Limerick Day #NationalLimerickDay
May 15: International Day of Families #FamilyDay
May 16: Love a Tree Day #LoveATreeDay
May 17: International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia #IDAHOT2023
May 21: National Memo Day #NationalMemoDay
May 24: National Scavenger Hunt Day #NationalScavengerHuntDay
May 28: Hamburger Day #NationalHamburgerDay
May 29: Paperclip Day #PaperclipDay
May 31: World No-Tobacco Day #NoTobacco
June 1: Global Day of Parents #GlobalDayOfParents
June 5: World Environment Day #WorldEnvironmentDay
June 6: Higher Education Day #HigherEducationDay
June 8: World Oceans Day #WorldOceansDay
June 8: Best Friends Day #BestFriendsDay
June 14: World Blood Donor Day #GiveBlood
June 14: National Flag Day #FlagDay
June 19: Juneteenth (Freedom Day) #Juneteenth
June 20: World Refugee Day #WithRefugees
June 20, 21, or 22 (Depending on the Year): First Day of Summer #FirstDayofSummer
June 21: National Selfie Day #NationalSelfieDay
June 21: World Music Day #WorldMusicDay
June 21: International Yoga Day #InternationalYogaDay
June 27: National Sunglasses Day #NationalSunglassesDay
June 30: Social Media Day #SMDay
July 1: National Postal Worker Day #NationalPostalWorkerDay
July 2: World UFO Day #WorldUFODay
July 4: Independence Day (United States)
July 7: World Chocolate Day #WorldChocolateDay
July 8: National Video Games Day #NationalVideoGamesDay
July 11: Cheer Up the Lonely Day #CheerUpTheLonelyDay
July 12: Malala Day #MalalaDay
July 15: Give Something Away Day #GiveSomethingAwayDay
July 17: World Emoji Day #WorldEmojiDay
July 18: Nelson Mandela International Day #MandelaDay
July 30: International Day of Friendship #DayOfFriendship
August 1: Respect for Parents Day #RespectForParentsDay
August 2: National Coloring Book Day #NationalColoringBookDay
August 8: International Cat Day #InternationalCatDay
August 9: National Book Lovers Day #NationalBookLoversDay
August 10: National Lazy Day #LazyDay
August 11: National Sons and Daughters Day #SonsAndDaughtersDay
August 12: International Youth Day #YouthDay
August 12: World Elephant Day #WorldElephantDay
August 13: International Lefthanders Day #LefthandersDay
August 15: National Relaxation Day #NationalRelaxationDay
August 16: National Tell a Joke Day #NationalTellAJokeDay
August 19: World Photo Day #WorldPhotoDay
August 19: World Humanitarian Day #WorldHumanitarianDay
August 20: National Lemonade Day #NationalLemonadeDay
August 26: National Dog Day #NationalDogDay
August 26: National Women’s Equality Day #WomensEqualityDay
September 4: National Wildlife Day #NationalWildlifeDay
September 5: International Day of Charity #CharityDay
September 6: Read a Book Day #ReadABookDay
September 8: International Literacy Day #LiteracyDay
September 11: National Day of Service and Remembrance #911Day
September 12: National Day of Encouragement #DayOfEncouragement
September 15 – October 15: Histrongic Heritage Month #histrongicheritagemonth
September 18: Civic Day of Hacking #HackForChange
September 19: Talk Like a Pirate Day #TalkLikeAPirateDay
September 21: International Day of Peace #PeaceDay
September 21: Miniature Golf Day #MiniGolfDay
September 22: Car-Free Day #CarFreeDay
September 22: Hobbit Day #HobbitDay
September 22 or 23 (Depending on the Year): First Day of Fall #FirstDayofFall
September 26: National Pancake Day #NationalPancakeDay
September 26: European Day of Languages #EDL2023
September 27: World Tourism Day #WTD2023
September 28: World Rabies Day #WorldRabiesDay
September 28: National Good Neighbor Day #GoodNeighborDay
September 30: International Podcast Day #InternationalPodcastDay
October 1: International Day of Older Persons #UNDOP
October 1: International Coffee Day #InternationalCoffeeDay
October 1: World Vegetarian Day #WorldVegetarianDay
October 2: International Day of Nonviolence #InternationalDayOfNonviolence
October 3: National Techies Day #TechiesDay
October 4: World Animal Day #WorldAnimalDay
October 4: National Taco Day #NationalTacoDay
October 5: World Teachers Day #WorldTeachersDay
October 10: World Mental Health Day #WorldMentalHeathDay
October 11: International Day of the Girl #DayOfTheGirl
October 14: National Dessert Day #DessertDay
October 15: Global Handwashing Day #GlobalHandwashingDay
October 16: World Food Day #FoodDay
October 16: Bosses Day #BossesDay
October 17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty #EndPoverty
October 20: World Statistics Day (Held every 5 years; it will next be celebrated in 2025) #StatisticsDay
October 21: Reptile Awareness Day #ReptileAwarenessDay
October 24: United Nations Day #UNDay
October 25: Greasy Foods Day #GreasyFoodsDay
October 30: National Publicist Day #NationalPublicistDay
October 30: Checklist Day #ChecklistDay
October 31: Halloween #Halloween
November 1-30: National Novel Writing Month #NaNoWriMo
November 1: National Authors Day #NationalAuthorsDay
November 1: World Vegan Day #WorldVeganDay
November 1: National Cook For Your Pets Day #CookForYourPetsDay
November 3: National Sandwich Day #NationalSandwichDay
November 4: National Candy Day #NationalCandyDay
November 8: National Cappuccino Day #CappuccinoDay
November 8: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine (STEM) Day #STEMDay
November 11: Veterans Day #VeteransDay
November 13: World Kindness Day #WKD
November 14: World Diabetes Day #WDD
November 15: Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day #CleanOutYourRefrigeratorDay
November 15: America Recycles Day #BeRecycled
November 16: International Day for Tolerance #ToleranceDay
November 17: International Students Day #InternationalStudentsDay
November 19: International Men’s Day #InternationalMensDay
November 20: Universal Children’s Day #UNChildrensDay
November 21: World Hello Day #WorldHelloDay
November 26: National Cake Day #NationalCakeDay
November 29: Electronic Greeting Card Day #ElectronicGreetingCardDay
November 30: Computer Security Day #ComputerSecurityDay
December 1: World AIDS Day #WAD2023
December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities #IDPWD
December 4: National Cookie Day #NationalCookieDay
December 5: World Soil Day #WorldSoilDay
December 6: Microwave Oven Day #MicrowaveOvenDay
December 8: Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day #PretendToBeATimeTravelerDay
December 10: Human Rights Day #HumanRightsDay
December 10: Nobel Prize Day #NobelPrize
December 11: International Mountain Day #InternationalMountainDay
December 21: Crossword Puzzle Day #CrosswordPuzzleDay
December 20, 21, or 23 (Depending on the Year): First Day of Winter #WinterSolstice
December 27: No Interruptions Day #NoInterruptionsDay
December 31: New Year’s Eve #NYE
Ready to get inspired? Check out some of our favorite examples of social media holiday posts below.
In this post from HubSpot’s very own social media team, we created a holiday gift guide for marketers — one of our buyer personas and also a group of people we very much love (we create software products just for them, after all! Shout out to Marketing Hub). This is one example of how you can make a social media holiday post relevant to your target audience while integrating light humor.
Afterlight Books is a romance book box subscription service that hit the nail on the head with their Valentine’s week campaign. You read that right — they turned a social media holiday into a social media week. Not only is that delightful for their loyal subscribers, but it also capitalizes on one of their main selling points. All of their books are romantic, so it makes sense to make a big deal out of the most romantic holiday of the year!
If your product or business aligns with a specific holiday, feel free to go all out on your campaign.
For Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Spotify featured a diverse panel of artists who are of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. In the spirit of the holiday, the brand also asked each artist why representation matters to them, which not only uplifts API voices but also honors what heritage months are all about.
Whenever you make a social media holiday post, consider tying the content you’re publishing very closely with the essence of the holiday.
Stationery brand Mark + Fold kept it simple with this Mother’s Day post, which reminds their followers to order a long-lasting gift for the wonderful mothers they know. This post features minimal photography and embodies the brand’s professional, polished tone (with a bit of sass, of course). It’s a great example of how to keep it simple — no need to go over the top, especially if your brand is more understated in nature.
If you’re looking for an example of a no-fuss social media holiday post, look no further than this example from a university. It celebrates the first day of summer, which for most students means a welcome break from school. To encapsulate that spirit, it includes an image of an empty, peaceful, and quiet green (which is, in fact, called the Quiet Green).
With a brief Instagram caption and a dedicated branded hashtag, this social media holiday post is both effective and simple, and absolutely worth imitating if you’re not sure what to post next but know that another holiday is coming up.
For its Halloween post, Meta published a reel titled “Haunted House: Trick-VR–Treat,” which effectively advertises its VR headset product. It also encapsulates the spooky spirit of the holiday by inviting viewers to join them in a virtual haunted house created by Eli Roth. This is an excellent example of how to tie a holiday post into an experiential marketing campaign.
Let’s be honest: December is chock-full of social media holiday opportunities, so it warrants a second example on this list. JetPens, an online stationery store, delighted its followers with a gift wrapping tutorial (which is just about the hardest thing to do) featuring a few of its stationery items. What a win!
The brand both advertised its products and provided useful information to its followers. Consider taking a similar approach with your posts, where you both honor the holiday and help out your viewers.
Crumbl Cookies won the social media holiday game with this post about National Pink Day. Its brand color is pink, so it created a giveaway campaign to celebrate the holiday and invited their followers to tag others for a chance to win. This is a great example to follow if your brand colors align with any one of the national color holidays.
Just remember that many of those holidays are aligned with a specific cause. For instance, Purple Day (March 26th) is designed to raise awareness about epilepsy, while National Dress in Blue Day (first Friday in March) aims to raise knowledge about colon cancer.
Partaking in social media holidays will help you create a stronger brand voice and share posts about trending topics, helping you earn more followers in the long run. While it’s not important to celebrate every single social media holiday, being aware of the holidays can help you brainstorm ideas for your marketing and implement fun, themed posts into your social media content calendar.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January 2017 but is updated annually for comprehensiveness. The most recent update of this post was June 2023.
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