Online sites across the country list over 1,500 recognized national food holidays, giving tasty reasons to celebrate. Some are manufactured by companies and organizations vested in promoting their own products and brands, but the truth is, these popular and obscure food-centric holidays offer strategic ways to attract new customers and keep your regulars engaged with your brand.
By centering social media posts, promotions and menu specials around these holiday themes, you don’t have to wait for major national festivities to promote your restaurant’s offerings. Get creative with this month-by-month list of legal and national food centric holidays.
Download our Free 2024 Food Holiday Calendar, filled with 12 months of the most widely known (and a bit obscure) food-centered holidays, to use in your restaurant's marketing.
January
Taking advantage of the early winter holidays is a great way to boost delivery orders and gear up for a profitable year ahead. Now that the New Year is upon us, take advantage of fun food holidays to attract customers to your delivery menu.
January 1 - New Year’s Day
January 4 - National Spaghetti Day
January 13 - National Gluten Free Day
January 15 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 23 - National Pie Day
January 31 - National Hot Chocolate Day
February
February is a sweet month for the restaurant business, and there's nothing that says "I love you" more than a cozy dinner at home with a great meal from a beloved restaurant.
From Baked Alaska Day to Pizza Day, President's Day to Valentine's Day, February is a great month to get out of the winter doldrums and back in front of your customer's minds. Now is the time to start planning your February online menu and promoting it on social media, radio, email and with in-store signage and delivery package inserts.
Download and print our handy 2024 Food Holiday Calendar to remind yourself and your staff of the approaching holidays.
Think about creating online delivery promotions and menu specials to entice customers to order a romantic meal from your restaurant's online menu on Valentine's Day. Many of your customers will have a day off from work on President's day, creating a bonus 3-day weekend. Remind your customers that you'll deliver their favorite dish to their door so they can enjoy their holiday in the comfort of their home.
Obscure food holidays like Pizza Day and Margarita Day are great opportunities to use as inspiration for social media posts and other marketing. And don't forget Super Bowl Sunday, one of the top food delivery days of the year.
February 2 - Groundhog Day
February 9 - National Pizza Day
February 10 - Lunar New Year
February 13 - Fat Tuesday
February 14 - Valentine’s Day
February 19 - Presidents’ Day
February 20 - National Muffin Day
February 22 - National Margarita Day
March
In like a lion, out like a lamb, March is a “lucky” month for the restaurant business, and there's nothing that speaks St. Patrick’s Day more than green beer, shamrock shakes, and a touch of clover everywhere. A big day for food and drink, everyone's Irish on March 17th, so it’s a great time to start planning your St. Paddy promotions and menu specials!
There’s nothing better than having some hearty Irish cuisine on St. Patrick’s Day. So why not curate a special menu featuring some favorites. Go fully traditional with Corned Beef and Cabbage or get creative with Shamrock-shaped pancakes, green bagels or rainbow pizza.
If you’re still stumped on ways to incorporate a bit-o-Ireland into your menu, it’s easy being green with kale, spinach or avocado-based dishes, or matcha lattes and pistachio desserts.
March 8 - International Women’s Day
March 9 - National Meatball Day
March 16 - National Artichoke Day
March 17 - St. Patrick’s Day
March 25 - International Waffle Day
March 31 - Easter
April
April is a great month for the restaurant industry, as the weather begins to allow for outdoor seating once more. Passover and Easter are two major holidays centered around food, but there are a few more obscure food holidays around which fun promotions and social media posts can be geared. For great information on spring cleaning and the holidays quickly approaching this month, check out our recent post, Springing ahead: How to make the most of the season for restaurant profitability.
April 1 - April Fools’ Day
April 7 - National Beer Day
April 8 - National Empanada Day
April 12 - National Grilled Cheese Day
April 22 - Passover
April 22 - Earth Day
Related post: Earth Month Restaurant Promotions and Practices for a Sustainable Planet
May
May is a month filled with some of the biggest food holidays, including Mother’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, and Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer! Make the most of spring’s warm weather and celebrate the many food and national holidays May has to offer by sprucing up your dining room, preparing your patio, planning seasonal promotions, and getting creative with menu specials.
May 5 - Cinco de Mayo
May 12 - Mother’s Day
May 13 - National Hummus Day
May 14 - National Biscuit Day
May 25 - National Wine Day
May 27 - Memorial Day
June
As spring moves over for summer, June is one of the biggest food-related marketing months of the year, jam-packed with reasons to celebrate. Father’s Day, Flag Day, and Juneteenth are popular events around which you can build marketing campaigns for your restaurant. And if that isn’t enough to get your creative juices sizzling, June has a number of national food holidays like National Cheese Day, Ice Cream Day, and International Falafel Day, not to mention Pride Month, one of the most colorful celebrations of the year.
June 4 - National Cheese Day
June 7 - National Ice Cream Day
June 12 - International Falafel Day
June 14 - Flag Day
June 16 - Father’s Day
June 19 - Juneteenth
Related post: 10 Ways to Celebrate Pride Month at Your Restaurant
July
Each year on July 4th, the United States celebrates Independence Day. Commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, Americans have been gathering together to celebrate freedom and independence for 247 years!
A national day off, families everywhere get together for picnics, parades, barbeques, and
fireworks displays, but at the center of every July Fourth celebration is mouthwatering food.
With hometown parades, family reunions, and outdoor festivals expected to be back in full
Swing, Independence Day 2024 promises to be a national party from sea to shining sea.
For restaurants, Independence Day offers the freedom to introduce new menu items, get creative colorful desserts and drinks, back-to-basics comfort foods that define what it
means to be an American. It also presents an opportunity to capture delivery revenue and
promote catering packages.
July 4 - Independence Day
July 6 - National Fried Chicken Day
July 24 - National Tequila Day
July 31 - National Avocado Day
Related post: Score Big Celebrating the Red, White, and Blue
August
As we wave goodbye to July and welcome August, we’ve reached summer’s half-way point. With the season in full blast , it’s a great time to offer your customers some relief from the heat with refreshing beverages, frozen desserts, foods from the sea, and sweet, juicy fruit.
While National Burger Day might not be one for the books, this is a day that presents burger joints, whether beefy or vegan, to promote their tasty offerings on social media with enticing posts that will make your customers’ mouths water!
Aug 3 - National Watermelon Day
Aug 5 - National Oyster Day
Aug 16 - National Rum Day
Aug 19 - National Potato Day
Aug 27 - National Burger Day
September
It's no longer summer, but not quite fall. We’re packing up swimsuits, but not ready to unpack Halloween costumes. The opposite of March, September is a month of transitions, coming in like a sauna (especially this year!) and out like an autumn breeze. It's the month of flannel shirts, tailgating, and pumpkin spice everything.
Even though the big holidays are still a few months away, September is the month we give ourselves permission to start getting into the spirit of the season. And for restaurants, that means hunkering down with mouthwatering Sunday football delivery specials, creating make-life-easy back-to-school meal kits, and getting your name out to hungry college students looking for local take-out and delivery.
September 2 - Labor Day
September 10 - National Hot Dog Day
September 13- National Peanut Day
September 26 - National Pancake Day
September 29 - National Coffee Day
October
On the cusp of the holiday season, early October is the perfect time to get excited about the many promotional opportunities ahead.
More than just a chill in the air and colorful foliage, October offers a tasty selection of food-focused holidays to kick off the most wonderful time of the year.
From Rosh Hashanah (10/3) and Yom Kippur (10/12) to Taco Day (10/4), and Halloween, October is packed with savory food holidays to promote your restaurant‘s fall-focused menu.
October 1 - World Vegetarian Day
October 3 - Rosh Hashanah
October 4 - National Taco Day
October 12 - Yom Kippur
October 14 - Columbus Day
October 27 - American Beer Day
October 31 - Halloween
Related post: Carving Out a Profitable Halloween
November
As the holiday season moves along at high speed, November begins with National Sandwich Day and Election Day and ends with Thanksgiving and Black Friday, so it's never too soon to start planning for everything this month has to offer.
November 1 - Diwali
November 2 - Day of the Dead
November 3 - National Sandwich Day
November 5 - Election Day
November 11 - Veterans Day
November 14 - National Pickle Day
November 26 - National Cake Day
November 28 - Thanksgiving
December
With the holidays in overdrive, December is a month to revel in the festivities and end the year profitably. With Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa overlapping this year, the final week of December offers opportunities galore to boost catering and delivery sales. But don’t overlook some of the smaller holidays like National Cookie Day, a sweet chance to get the final month of the year off to a great start.
December 4 - National Cookie Day
December 17 - National Maple Syrup Day
December 24 - Christmas Eve
December 25 - Christmas Day
December 26 - Hanukkah (1st day)
December 26 - Kwanzaa
December 31 - New Year’s Eve
Related post: 13 Tips for a Profitable 2023 Holiday Season
Download our Free 2024 Food Holiday Calendar, filled with 12 months of marketing opportunities that celebrate food all year long.
By Eileen Strauss
