TODAY IS A SPECIAL DAY!!!!
“Nothing is worth more than this day.” — Goethe
THE CALENDAR — MARCH 2026 — On calendars everywhere, the month of March, famous for coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb, looks barren. Sure, there’s St. Patrick’s Day, but March is the only month that stretches across 31 long and unforgiving days without a single national holiday. But wait! A new calendar is in the making!
Because today, March 1, is National Pig Day! If every dog has his day, why not every pig? And March 2 is National Banana Cream Pie Day! Not to be out done, March 3 is National Canadian Bacon Day! And for those still in the mood to party, comes National Marching Music Day (March 4), National Absinthe Day (March 5), National Roast Pig Day (perhaps why we gave pigs their day) and on March 8, a double header, National Peanut Cluster Day and National Potato Salad Day!
In March, you can gain weight just reading the calendar. But what seems a glut of special days pales in comparison to summer. March has a 43 special days, April another 48, but come August, 50 days are designated National This or That Day.
August’s fun includes National Water Balloon Day (first Friday of August), National Prosecco Day (August 13), and everyone’s favorite, National I Love My Feet Day (August 17). (At my house, every day is I Love My Feet Day.)
Pity all those other countries. Sweden just has National Waffle Day (March 25) and National Cinnamon Bun Day (October 4). Germany only has National Soup Day (November 19). Turkmenistan’s annual Melon Day and Luxembourg’s Pretzel Sunday must alone satisfy their nation’s need to party hearty.
But in America, every day is National Some Wacky Thing Day. Most of our special days celebrate food, everything from corn dogs (March 18) to National Sneak Some Zucchini Into Your Neighbor’s Porch Day (August 8). But as the calendar expands, almost every profession (accounting — November 10), every activity (Get Funky Day — October 5), every basic need (National Personal Space Day — November 30) has its own day.
When it comes to days off work, America is stingy. Just a handful of countries have fewer than our 11 federal holidays. Perhaps that explains our unofficial holidays. America’s need to whoop it up just will not be denied. So let’s hear it for National Bathtub Party Day (December 5). And National Cook for Your Pets Day (November 4). And of course, September 6, National Read a Book Day. (Well, one day’s better than never.)
We didn’t use to have so much fun. Congress must officially declare a national holiday, and until a century ago We, the People respected that. Then the Hallmark Corporation figured out that anyone can enshrine an unofficial holiday. And in 1930, Hallmark created National Friendship Day (August 2).
Hallmark’s bold move was followed in 1938 when the Salvation Army, hoping to raise spirits during the Depression, declared National Donut Day. For the next half century, special days came and went without much ado. Then President Reagan officially declared National Ice Cream Day (third Sunday in July), National Frozen Food Day (March 6) and National Catfish Day (June 25). Chronos, the god of time, wept.
Because even if no subsequent president followed Reagan’s lead, the Internet soon broke the calendar wide open. Suddenly any partyin’ fool could declare a national day and, using social media, invite everyone along. Chaos reigned. Then a savvy couple in North Dakota bet the farm on a single calendar.
On January 19, 2013 (yet another National Popcorn Day), Marlo and Amy Anderson’s nationaldaycalendar.com went live. The Andersons’ calendar had only a few dozen days gathered from official holidays and promos, but the couple soon learned to use hashtags and crowd sourcing. Once they began taking submissions for national days, the rest was banal.
“Am I the only one who finds it weird,” asked an Atlantic Monthly writer, “that you can just tell people ‘it’s National Milkshake Day,’ and they will say, ‘Oh, great, let’s get milkshakes!’ Yes, in fact, you are.
Because with all our fussin’ and feudin’, we need something to celebrate. Christmas is in dispute. Thanksgiving divides turkey lovers from vegetarians and vegans. But everyone can celebrate National Extraterrestrial Abductions Day (March 20).
The Andersons interest in national days started as a hobby. Now it’s a career. With a staff of six, with ad revenue flowing, and a loyal fanbase that includes 20,000 media outlets, the National Day Calendar is getting a little cluttered. March 16, for example, is National. . . Corn Dog, Curl Crush, Quilting, Panda, Artichoke Heart, and Freedom of Information Day. Several other days do double or triple duty. (November 1 has 13 designations.)
The Andersons can barely keep up with all this orgiastic fun. Have a day to celebrate? Submit an online form, then get in line. Nationaldaycalendar.com gets 20,000 would be fiestas each year. Staff weed through to pick just 25 new days — “fun, family-friendly, unique, relevant to the world” — for their next calendar.
Sure, there’s a lot of cheap hucksterism going on. Restaurants offer free guacamole on National Avocado Day (July 31) and every last ice cream parlor promotes Reagan’s paean to their product. But there’s also something so down home, so American about our nationwide effort to transcend the day-to-day.
“In this day and age, when everything is so serious, it’s nice to have a little fun,” said National Day Calendar CEO Amy Monette, “Even if it’s just celebrating a cookie day.”
So with March’s holiday season upon us, pace yourself. Don’t go all in on National Crabmeat Day (March 9) or National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day (March 13). Save that party power for National Introverts Week (third week in March) and of course, National Clams on the Halfshell Day (March 31). And come April, the partyin’ will just keep going. You might think April 1 is only for fools, but what about National Sourdough Bread Day, National One Cent Day, National Walking Day. . .
