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 2022 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 2022 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: 2022
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 2022 Social Media Holidays
- February 2022 Social Media Holidays
- March 2022 Social Media Holidays
- April 2022 Social Media Holidays
- May 2022 Social Media Holidays
- June 2022 Social Media Holidays
- July 2022 Social Media Holidays
- August 2022 Social Media Holidays
- September 2022 Social Media Holidays
- October 2022 Social Media Holidays
- November 2022 Social Media Holidays
- December 2022 Social Media Holidays
January 2022 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 10: Clean Off Your Desk Day (Second Monday of January) #CleanOffYourDeskDay
- January 13: National Sticker Day #NationalStickerDay
- January 15: National Hat Day #NationalHatDay
- January 17: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Third Monday of January) #MLKDay
- January 20: Cheese Lovers Day #CheeseLoversDay
- January 20: Get to Know Your Customers Day (Third Thursday of January) #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
- January 21: National Hugging Day #NationalHuggingDay
- January 24: National Compliment Day #NationalComplimentDay
- January 24: Community Manager Appreciation Day (Every 4th Monday of January) #CMAD
- January 25: Opposite Day #OppositeDay
- January 28: Data Privacy Day #PrivacyAware
February 2022 Social Media Holidays
- February 1 – 28: Black History Month
- February 1: Chinese New Year (Varies Each Year) #ChineseNewYear
- 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 8: Safer Internet Day (Second Tuesday of February) #SID2022
- February 9: National Pizza Day #NationalPizzaDay
- February 11: Inventors Day #InventorsDay
- February 13: World Radio Day #WorldRadioDay
- February 13: Super Bowl LV (Varies each year based on the U.S. Football season) #SBLV #SuperBowlSunday #SuperBowl
- 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
- February 21: Presidents Day (Third Monday of February) #PresidentsDay
March 2022 Social Media Holidays
- March 1: Mardi Gras (Varies Each Year) #MardiGras
- March 2: National Read Across America Day #ReadAcrossAmerica & #DrSeuss
- March 3: World Wildlife Day #WorldWildlifeDay
- March 4: National Grammar Day #NationalGrammarDay
- March 4: National Employee Appreciation Day (First Friday of March) #EmployeeAppreciationDay
- March 4: 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 10: Popcorn Lover’s Day (Second Thursday of March) #PopcornLoversDay
- 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 13: Daylight Savings (Second Sunday of March) #DaylightSavings
- March 14: National Napping Day (the day after Daylight Savings) #NationalNappingDay
- March 15: World Consumer Rights Day #WorldConsumerRightsDay
- March 15: Equal Pay Day (Varies Each Year) #EqualPayDay
- March 16: National Freedom of Information Day #FreedomOfInformationDay
- March 17: St. Patrick’s Day #StPatricksDay
- March 18: Awkward Moments Day #NationalAwkwardMomentsDay
- March 18: World Sleep Day (the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox) #WorldSleepDay
- 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 22: American Diabetes Association Alert Day (Fourth Tuesday of March) #AmericanDiabetesAssociationAlertDay
- March 23: National Puppy Day #NationalPuppyDay
- March 25: Tolkien Reading Day #TolkienReadingDay
- March 26: National Spinach Day #NationalSpinachDay
- March 26: Purple Day #PurpleDay
- March 26: Earth Hour Day (Last Saturday of March) #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
April 2022 Social Media Holidays
- 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 High-Five Day (Third Thursday of April) #NH5D
- April 21: National Administrative Professionals Day #AdministrativeProfessionalsDay
- April 21: Get to Know Your Customers Day (Third Thursday of April) #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
- April 22: Earth Day #EarthDay2022
- 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 27: Denim Day (Last Wednesday in April) #DenimDay
- April 28: National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (Fourth Thursday in April) #COUNTONME
- April 29: Arbor Day (Last Friday in April. May vary by state) #ArborDay
- 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 2022 Social Media Holidays
- May 1: May Day #MayDay
- May 1: International Workers Day #IntWorkersDay
- May 3: World Press Freedom Day #WPFD2022 #PressFreedom
- May 3: World Asthma Day (First Tuesday of May) #WorldAsthmaDay
- May 3: National Teacher Appreciation Day (first Tuesday of the first full week of May) #ThankATeacher
- May 4: Star Wars Day #StarWarsDay & #Maythe4thBeWithYou
- May 4: International Firefighters Day #InternationalFirefightersDay
- May 5: Cinco de Mayo #CincoDeMayo
- May 5: World Password Day (First Thursday of May) #WorldPasswordDay
- May 6: National Nurses Day #NursesDay
- May 6: Space Day (First Friday of May) #SpaceDay
- May 8: Mother’s Day (Second Sunday of May) #MothersDay
- May 9: Europe Day #EuropeDay
- May 11: National Receptionist Day (Second Wednesday of May) #NationalReceptionistDay
- 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 #IDAHOT2022
- May 20: National Bike to Work Day (Third Friday of May) #BTWD
- May 20: Endangered Species Day (Third Friday of May) #EndangeredSpeciesDay
- May 21: National Memo Day #NationalMemoDay
- May 24: National Scavenger Hunt Day #NationalScavengerHuntDay
- May 26: National Red Nose Day (Last Thursday of May) #RedNoseDay
- May 27: Heat Awareness Day (Last Friday of May) #NoFryDay
- May 28: Hamburger Day #NationalHamburgerDay
- May 29: Paperclip Day #PaperclipDay
- May 30: Memorial Day (Last Monday of May) #MemorialDay #MDW
- May 31: World No-Tobacco Day #NoTobacco
June 2022 Social Media Holidays
- June 1: Global Day of Parents #GlobalDayOfParents
- June 3: National Donut Day (First Friday of June) #NationalDonutDay
- June 5: World Environment Day #WorldEnvironmentDay
- June 5: National Cancer Survivors Day (First Sunday of June)#NCSD2022
- June 6: Higher Education Day #HigherEducationDay
- June 8: World Oceans Day #WorldOceansDay
- June 8: Best Friends Day #BestFriendsDay
- June 12: International Children’s Day (Second Sunday of June) #ChildrensDay
- June 14: World Blood Donor Day #GiveBlood
- June 14: National Flag Day #FlagDay
- June 19: Juneteenth (Freedom Day) #Juneteenth
- June 19: Father’s Day (Third Sunday of June) #FathersDay
- June 20: World Refugee Day #WithRefugees
- June 21: First Day of Summer (Varies between June 20-22 each year) #FirstDayofSummer
- June 21: National Selfie Day #NationalSelfieDay
- June 21: World Music Day #WorldMusicDay
- June 21: International Yoga Day #InternationalYogaDay
- June 24: Take Your Dog to Work Day (First Friday after Juneteenth) #TakeYourDogToWorkDay
- June 27: National Sunglasses Day #NationalSunglassesDay
- June 30: Social Media Day #SMDay
- June 30: National Handshake Day (Last Thursday of June) #HandshakeDay
July 2022 Social Media Holidays
- 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 21: Get to Know Your Customers Day (Third Thursday of July) #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
- July 29: Talk in an Elevator Day (Last Friday of July) #TalkInAnElevatorDay
- July 30: International Day of Friendship #DayOfFriendship
August 2022 Social Media Holidays
- 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 2022 Social Media Holidays
- September 4: National Wildlife Day #NationalWildlifeDay
- September 5: International Day of Charity #CharityDay
- September 5: Labor Day (First Monday of September) #LaborDay
- September 6: Read a Book Day #ReadABookDay
- September 8: International Literacy Day #LiteracyDay
- September 9: Stand Up To Cancer Day (Second Friday of September) #KissCancerGoodbye
- September 11: National Day of Service and Remembrance #911Day
- September 11: National Grandparents Day (First Sunday of September after Labor Day) #NationalGrandparentsDay
- September 12: National Day of Encouragement #DayOfEncouragement
- September 15 – October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month #hispanicheritagemonth
- September 18: Civic Day of Hacking (Exact date sometimes varies by year) #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: First Day of Fall (Varies between September 22-23 each year) #FirstDayofFall
- September 26: National Pancake Day #NationalPancakeDay
- September 26: European Day of Languages #EDL2022
- September 27: World Tourism Day #WTD2022
- September 28: World Rabies Day #WorldRabiesDay
- September 28: National Good Neighbor Day #GoodNeighborDay
- September 28: National Women’s Health and Fitness Day (Last Wednesday of September) #FitnessDay
- September 30: International Podcast Day #InternationalPodcastDay
October 2022 Social Media Holidays
- 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 3: World Habitat Day (First Monday of October) #WorldHabitatDay
- October 4: World Animal Day #WorldAnimalDay
- October 4: National Taco Day #NationalTacoDay
- October 5: World Teachers Day #WorldTeachersDay
- October 7: World Smile Day (First Friday of October) #WorldSmileDay
- October 10: World Mental Health Day #WorldMentalHeathDay
- October 11: International Day of the Girl #DayOfTheGirl
- October 13: World Sight Day (Second Thursday of October) #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 (Held every 5 years; it will next be celebrated in 2025) #StatisticsDay
- October 21: Reptile Awareness Day #ReptileAwarenessDay
- October 20: Get to Know Your Customers Day (Third Thursday of October) #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 2022 Social Media Holidays
- 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 2: National Stress Awareness Day (First Wednesday of November) #StressAwarenessDay
- November 3: National Sandwich Day #NationalSandwichDay
- November 4: National Candy Day #NationalCandyDay
- November 6: Daylight Saving Time Ends (First Sunday of November) #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 15: National Entrepreneurs Day (Third Tuesday of November) #EntrepreneursDay
- 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 24: Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday of November) #Thanksgiving
- November 25: National Day of Listening (the day after Thanksgiving) #DayOfListening
- November 26: National Cake Day #NationalCakeDay
- November 27: Small Business Saturday (Last Saturday of November) #ShopSmall
- November 29: Electronic Greeting Card Day #ElectronicGreetingCardDay
- November 30: Computer Security Day #ComputerSecurityDay
December 2022 Social Media Holidays
- December 1: World AIDS Day #WAD2022
- 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 9: National Salesperson Day (Second Friday of December) #SalespersonDay
- 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 21: First Day of Winter (Varies between December 20-23 each year) #WinterSolstice
- December 27: No Interruptions Day #NoInterruptionsDay
- December 31: New Year’s Eve #NYE
Social Media Holidays Will Help You Grow Your Brand
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 April 2022.