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.

Downloadable Holiday Calendar

To help you keep track of all these unique holidays, here’s a Social Media Holiday Google Calendar.

Aside from 2021 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 2021 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

National & Global Holiday Calendar: 2021

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 2021 Social Media Holidays
• February 2021 Social Media Holidays
• March 2021 Social Media Holidays
• April 2021 Social Media Holidays
• May 2021 Social Media Holidays
• June 2021 Social Media Holidays
• July 2021 Social Media Holidays
• August 2021 Social Media Holidays
• September 2021 Social Media Holidays
• October 2021 Social Media Holidays
• November 2021 Social Media Holidays
• December 2021 Social Media Holidays

January 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• 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 11: Clean Off Your Desk Day #CleanOffYourDeskDay
• January 13: National Sticker Day #NationalStickerDay
• January 15: National Hat Day #NationalHatDay
• January 18: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Third Monday of January) #MLKDay
• January 20: Cheese Lovers Day #CheeseLoversDay
• January 21: National Hugging Day #NationalHuggingDay
• January 21: Get to Know Your Customers Day (third Thursday of every quarter) #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
• January 24: National Compliment Day #NationalComplimentDay
• January 25: Opposite Day #OppositeDay
• January 25: Community Manager Appreciation Day (Last Monday of January) #CMAD
• January 28: Data Privacy Day #PrivacyAware

February 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• 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: Super Bowl LV (Varies each year based on the U.S. Football season) #SBLV #SuperBowlSunday #SuperBowl
• 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 9: Safer Internet Day #SID2021
• February 11: Inventors Day #InventorsDay
• February 12: Chinese New Year #ChineseNewYear
• February 13: World Radio Day #WorldRadioDay
• February 14: Valentine’s Day #ValentinesDay
• February 15: Presidents Day (Third Monday of February) #PresidentsDay
• February 16: Mardi Gras #MardiGras
• 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 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• March 2: National Read Across America Day #ReadAcrossAmerica & #DrSeuss
• March 3: World Wildlife Day #WorldWildlifeDay
• March 4: National Grammar Day #NationalGrammarDay
• March 5: National Employee Appreciation Day (First Friday of March) #EmployeeAppreciationDay
• March 5: National Day of Unplugging (First Friday of March) #NationalDayOfUnplugging
• 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 11: Popcorn Lover’s Day #PopcornLoversDay
• 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 14: Daylight Savings #DaylightSavings
• March 15: National Napping Day #NationalNappingDay
• 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 19: World Sleep Day #WorldSleepDay
• March 19: Red Nose Day #RedNoseDay
• 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 23: American Diabetes Association Alert Day #AmericanDiabetesAssociationAlertDay
• March 25: Tolkien Reading Day #TolkienReadingDay
• March 26: National Spinach Day #NationalSpinachDay
• March 26: Purple Day #PurpleDay
• March 27: Earth Hour Day #EarthHour
• 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
• March 31: Equal Pay Day #EqualPayDay

April 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• 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 5: World Health Day #LetsTalk
• April 6: National Walking Day #NationalWalkingDay
• 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 15: Get to Know Your Customers Day (third Thursday of every quarter) #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
• April 15: National High-Five Day #NH5D
• April 16: National Stress Awareness Day #StressAwarenessDay
• 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 #EarthDay2021
• April 23: National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day #COUNTONME
• April 23: National Picnic Day #NationalPicnicDay
• April 23: World Book Day #WorldBookDay
• April 23: Arbor Day #ArborDay
• April 25: National Telephone Day #NationalTelephoneDay
• April 25: World Malaria Day #EndMalariaForGood
• April 28: Denim Day #DenimDay
• 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 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• May 1: May Day #MayDay
• May 1: International Workers Day #IntWorkersDay
• May 3: World Press Freedom Day #WPFD2021 #PressFreedom
• May 4: Star Wars Day #StarWarsDay & #Maythe4thBeWithYou
• May 4: International Firefighters Day #InternationalFirefightersDay
• May 4: World Asthma Day #WorldAsthmaDay
• May 4: Thank a Teacher Day #ThankATeacher
• May 5: Cinco de Mayo #CincoDeMayo
• May 6: National Nurses Day #NursesDay
• May 7: World Password Day #WorldPasswordDay
• May 7: Space Day #SpaceDay
• May 9: Europe Day #EuropeDay
• May 9: Mother’s Day #MothersDay
• May 12: National Limerick Day #NationalLimerickDay
• May 12: National Receptionist Day #NationalReceptionistDay
• May 15: International Day of Families #FamilyDay
• May 16: Love a Tree Day #LoveATreeDay
• May 17: International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia #IDAHOT2021
• May 21: National Memo Day #NationalMemoDay
• May 21: National Bike to Work Day #BTWD
• May 21: Endangered Species Day #EndangeredSpeciesDay
• May 24: National Scavenger Hunt Day #NationalScavengerHuntDay
• May 28: Hamburger Day #NationalHamburgerDay
• May 28: Heat Awareness Day (Last Friday of May) #NoFryDay
• May 29: Paperclip Day #PaperclipDay
• May 31: Memorial Day (Fourth Monday of May) #MemorialDay #MDW
• May 31: World No-Tobacco Day #NoTobacco

June 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• June 1: Global Day of Parents #GlobalDayOfParents
• June 4: National Donut Day #NationalDonutDay
• June 5: World Environment Day #WorldEnvironmentDay
• June 6: National Cancer Survivor’s Day #NCSD2021
• June 6: Higher Education Day #HigherEducationDay
• June 8: World Oceans Day #WorldOceansDay
• June 8: Best Friends Day #BestFriendsDay
• June 13: International Children’s Day #ChildrensDay
• 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: First Day of Summer
• June 20: Father’s Day #FathersDay
• June 21: National Selfie Day #NationalSelfieDay
• June 21: World Music Day #WorldMusicDay
• June 21: International Yoga Day #InternationalYogaDay
• June 24: National Handshake Day #HandshakeDay
• June 25: Take Your Dog to Work Day #TakeYourDogToWorkDay
• June 27: National Sunglasses Day #NationalSunglassesDay
• June 30: Social Media Day #SMDay

July 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• 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 11: Cheer Up the Lonely Day #CheerUpTheLonelyDay
• July 12: Malala Day #MalalaDay
• July 15: Give Something Away Day #GiveSomethingAwayDay
• July 15: Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
• July 17: World Emoji Day #WorldEmojiDay
• July 18: Nelson Mandela International Day #MandelaDay
• July 30: Talk in an Elevator Day #TalkInAnElevatorDay
• July 30: International Day of Friendship #DayOfFriendship

August 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• 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 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• September 4: National Wildlife Day #NationalWildlifeDay
• September 5: International Day of Charity #CharityDay
• September 6: Labor Day #LaborDay
• September 6: Read a Book Day #ReadABookDay
• September 8: International Literacy Day #LiteracyDay
• September 10: Stand Up To Cancer Day #KissCancerGoodbye
• September 11: National Day of Service and Remembrance #911Day
• September 12: Civic Day of Hacking #HackForChange
• September 12: National Grandparents Day #NationalGrandparentsDay
• September 12: National Day of Encouragement #DayOfEncouragement
• September 12: National Video Games Day #NationalVideoGamesDay
• September 15 – October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month #hispanicheritagemonth
• 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: First Day of Fall
• September 26: National Pancake Day #NationalPancakeDay
• September 26: European Day of Languages #EDL2021
• September 27: World Tourism Day #WTD2021
• September 28: World Rabies Day #WorldRabiesDay
• September 28: National Good Neighbor Day #GoodNeighborDay
• September 29: National Women’s Health and Fitness Day #FitnessDay
• September 30: International Podcast Day #InternationalPodcastDay

October 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• October 1: International Day of Older Persons #UNDOP
• October 1: International Coffee Day #InternationalCoffeeDay
• October 1: World Vegetarian Day #WorldVegetarianDay
• October 1: World Smile Day #WorldSmileDay
• 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 4: World Habitat Day #WorldHabitatDay
• October 5: World Teachers Day #WorldTeachersDay
• October 10: World Mental Health Day #WorldMentalHeathDay
• October 11: International Day of the Girl #DayOfTheGirl
• October 14: World Sight Day #WorldSightDay
• 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 #StatisticsDay
• October 21: Reptile Awareness Day #ReptileAwarenessDay
• October 21: Get to Know Your Customers Day (third Thursday of every quarter) #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
• 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 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• November 1: World Vegan Day #WorldVeganDay
• November 1: National Authors Day #NationalAuthorsDay
• November 1: National Cook For Your Pets Day #CookForYourPetsDay
• November 3: National Sandwich Day #NationalSandwichDay
• November 4: National Candy Day #NationalCandyDay
• November 7: Daylight Saving Time Ends #DaylightSavings
• 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 16: National Entrepreneurs Day #EntrepreneursDay
• 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 25: Thanksgiving Day #Thanksgiving
• November 26: National Cake Day #NationalCakeDay
• November 26: National Day of Listening #DayOfListening
• November 27: Small Business Saturday (The last Saturday of November) #ShopSmall
• November 29: Electronic Greeting Card Day #ElectronicGreetingCardDay
• November 30: Computer Security Day #ComputerSecurityDay

December 2021 Social Media Holidays

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• December 1: World AIDS Day #WAD2021
• 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 10: National Salesperson Day #SalespersonDay
• December 11: International Mountain Day #InternationalMountainDay
• December 21: Crossword Puzzle Day #CrosswordPuzzleDay
• December 21: First Day of Winter #WinterSolstice
• December 27: No Interruptions Day #NoInterruptionsDay
• December 31: New Year’s Eve #NYE

Sources: National Day Calendar, Sprout Social, TrackMaven, Holiday Insights, Brownielocks, National Peace Corps Association, Sparkflow, There’s a Day for That

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 March 2021.