2026 Key Awareness Days and Holidays for Social Media

Planning your social media content in advance is essential for keeping your business organised, relevant, and engaging throughout the year.

To help you get ahead in 2026, we’ve put together a comprehensive list of UK bank holidays, awareness days, and key events. Whether you’re looking to tie your campaigns to trending topics, connect with your audience on important dates, or create timely and impactful content, this guide will help you plan effectively and make the most of every opportunity the year has to offer.

To make things even easier, download our free social media calendar template and start planning your content today!

Key dates in 2026:

Key days in January 2026
Key days in February 2026
Key days in March 2026
Key days in April 2026
Key days in May 2026
Key days in June 2026
Key days in July 2026
Key days in August 2026
Key days in September 2026
Key days in October 2026
Key days in November 2026
Key days in December 2026

How to use the free social media calendar download

The social media calendar can be effective in getting your audience to interact with your brand online. You can encourage your customers to join in the fun days by asking them to send in some images and use a particular hashtag or even just ask their opinion on something.

It’s worth remembering that not all days listed here will be suitable for all industries, so be sure to pick key dates that are relevant to your business. For example, there are several food ones such as Veganuary or ‘eat what you want’ day, and these would be great for any food establishment.

Key dates for January 2026

January is abundant with great social media dates you can take advantage of. These are a few of our favourites.

Week-long/month-long events in January:

Dry January – Great if you plan to have an alcohol-free month and helps with the new year’s resolution of drinking less.
Veganuary – A month dedicated to veganism and its health benefits of it.

Key days in January:

1st: New Year’s Day – Time to start the new year as you mean to go on! #NewYearsDay
2nd: New Year’s Day (2nd Day) (Scotland only)
2nd: National Science Fiction Day – #ScienceFictionDay
3rd: Festival of sleep day
4th: World Braille Day – #WorldBrailleDay
4th: National Trivia Day – A day for sharing interesting and random facts. #NationalTriviaDay
5th: Twelfth Night – Time to make sure all those decorations are packed away!
5th: National Bird Day
6th: National Technology Day – Celebrate the past and present of technology and look to what the future holds.
6th: Epiphany
10th: National Houseplant Appreciation Day – #HouseplantAppreciationDay
15th: Get to Know Your Customers Day – How well do businesses know their customers? You could try polling them to find out more about them. #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
19th: Blue Monday– Apparently the most depressing day of the year. #Blue
25th: National Pie Day
25th: Burns Night – Celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns
25th: St Dwynwen’s Day – Celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns
28th: Data Privacy Day – Something everyone needs to be aware of these days. #DataPrivacyDay #PrivacyAware
29th: Lunar New Year – It’s the year of the snake #LunarNewYear

Key dates for February 2026

Moving on from January to the month of love. You are going to be seeing lots of pinks and reds this month, but there is more to February than romance and love hearts.

Week-long/month-long events in February:

9th – 15th February – Children’s Mental Health Week – This year’s theme is Let’s Connect. This focuses on how children (and adults) can make meaningful connections

Key days in February:

2nd: World Wetlands Day
4th: World Cancer Day – A day to raise awareness of cancer and encourage detection and treatment. #WorldCancerDay
6th: Time to Talk Day – A day to promote the benefits of talking about any mental health issues. If you have employee assistance programs, then that is also worth a mention. #TimeToTalk
8th: Super Bowl LIX – The most expensive advertising slot in the world. #SuperBowl #SuperBowlSunday #SuperBowl2025
10th: Safer Internet Day – This year’s theme is Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online. #SID2025 #SaferInternetDay2025
13th: Galentine’s Day – A day for women to celebrate their friendships with their female friends. #Galentines
14th: Valentine’s Day – #ValentinesDay #Valentine
15th: Maha Shivaratri
17th: Random Acts of Kindness Day – We love this one, we all get the chance to do one random act of kindness, a great way to show your business in a positive light. #RandomActsOfKindnessDay
17th: Lunar New Year – 2026 is the year of the horse #LunarNewYear
17th: Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday
18th: Ash Wednesday – First day of Lent
18th: Ramadan Start (Tentative Date)
20th: Love Your Pet Day – Cute pets can help to sell almost anything! #LoveYourPetDay
22nd: World Thinking Day
28th: Rare Diseases Day – #ShareYourColours

Key dates for March 2026

At the end of the month, we can move our clocks forward an hour and start having longer, lighter days again.

March is a bumper month for charity-themed months, and these month-long themed events can make excellent opportunities for businesses to raise funds for charities, whilst encouraging team building, and also creating opportunities for social media posts that can not only help your engagement, but further boost awareness of the fundraising initiatives too.

Week-long/month-long events in March:

Marie Curie’s Daffodil Appeal – Marie Curie take to the streets and sell their daffodil badges all to raise money.
Cancer Research’s Walk All Over Cancer – 10,000 steps a day for a month!
The British Heart Foundation also have a ‘Dechox’ where people are encouraged to go without chocolate for a month.
100 Miles for Mind – Get active and raise funds for Mind.
17th February – 18th March – Ramadan (Tentative)
14th – 23rd March – English Tourism Week – If you are a tourism business, this week should help you promote your services. Get posting on social media and use #EnglishTourismWeek to increase your reach.

Key days in March:

1st:St David’s Day – A Welsh day to celebrate everything Welsh. #DyddGwylDewiSant #SaintDavidsDay
2nd: University Mental Health Day – #UniversityMentalHealthDay
2nd: World Book Day – Visit a library or settle down with your favourite book. #WorldBookDay
7th: National Employee Appreciation Day
8th: International Women’s Day – Celebrate women’s achievement and #EmbraceEquality. #IWD #InternationalWomensDay
15th: Mother’s Day – Show your mothers how much you love them on Mother’s Day. #MothersDay #MotheringSunday
17th: St Patricks Day – Embrace all the beauty from the emerald Isle. #StPatricksDay
18th: Global Recycling Day – This year’s theme is creative innovation.
19th: Eid Al Fitr (Tentative Date)
20th: International Day of Happiness – What makes you happy? Why not post a positive message? Or have a surprise sale to brighten up your customer’s day. #InternationalDayof Happiness
20th: Red Nose Day/Comic Relief– Everyone loves to see businesses raise money for charity. #RND #RedNoseDay
28th: Earth Hour – For one hour a year WWF encourages everyone to switch off the lights for an hour. #EarthHour
31st: Transgender Day of Visibility – The #IAmEnough campaign has acceptance as its theme. #TDOV #TransDayOfVisibility

Key dates for April 2026

Easter provides a bumper bank holiday weekend this month, as well as an opportunity to encourage staff members to share pictures of their pets, what’s not to like?

Week-long/month-long events in April:

Stress Awareness Month – This event aims to raise awareness of stress and its negative consequences.
National Pet Month – #NationalPetMonth

Key days in April:

1st: April Fool’s Day – time to get pranking! #AprilFools
1st: First Day of Passover
2nd: World Autism Awareness Day – Dedicated to helping raise awareness of autism. #WAAD #WorldAutismAwarenessDay
3rd: Good Friday
5th: Easter Sunday
6th: Easter Bank Holiday Monday
7th: World Health Day – Today marks the anniversary of the World Health Organisation (WHO), founded in 1948. #WorldHealthDay
10th: Sibling’s Day
11th: National Pet Day
17th: Get to Know Your Customers Day – How well do you know your customers? #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
21st: World Creativity Day
23rd: St George’s Day – The patrol saint of England is remembered on this day.

Key dates for May 2026

There are two bank holidays in May (early May day and the Spring bank holiday).

Week-long/month-long events in May:

National Walking Month – All the benefits of walking.
Action on Stroke Month – again you can use this opportunity to fundraise for a worthy cause and share your efforts on social media.

11th – 24th – Foster Care Fortnight – If you work within this sector, use this time to help spread the message about how important fostering is.
11th – 17th – Mental Health Awareness Week – #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
18th – 24th – National Vegetarian Week – #Vegetarian

Key days in May:

4th: Early May Bank Holiday – #Bank Holiday
4th: Star Wars Day – #MayTheForthBeWithYou
5th: Cinco de Mayo – A Mexican yearly celebration. #CincoDeMayo
8th: World Red Cross Day
9th: Europe Day
12th: Fibromyalgia Awareness Day – One of the least understood illnesses that affect 1 in 20 people. #FibromyalgiaAwarenessDay
17th: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBT) – Recognising and stopping all forms of abuse against the LGBT community. #IDAHOBT
20th: World Bee Day – Save the bees! #WorldBeeDay
25th: Spring Bank Holiday. #BankHoliday
26th: Eidal-Adha(Tentative Date)
30th: National Creativity Day – A day to celebrate everything creative (and be creative). #NationalCreativityDay
31st: National Smile Day – Say cheese! See if you can get a selfie of your cheesiest grin! #NationalSmileDay

Key dates in June 2026

Halfway through the year, it’s summertime and the weather is warming up. This month is Pride month where we celebrate our LGBTQIA+ family.

Week-long/month-long events in June:

8th – 14th – Carers Week – If you work in the care industry why not use this time to highlight some of the wonderful things your carers do? You can post on social media, send an email with lots of updates, or even have some featured blogs on your website. #CarersWeek

Key days in June:

5th: World Environment Day – A UN initiative that encourages awareness and action around environmental issues. #WorldEnvironmentDay
5th: Thank You Day – Give thanks to your employees, your customers, and anyone you want to! #ThankYouDay
5th: National Fish & Chip Day – There is nothing batter than this seaside treat!
8th: World Ocean Day – Oceans cover 70% of our planet, so we are reliant on oceans to live. #WorldOceanDay
21st: Father’s Day – Time to celebrate the dads in our lives. #FathersDay
30th: Social Media Day – Celebrate the great relationships (and friendships) you have built on social media. #SocialMediaDay

Key dates for July 2026

July and the weather should hopefully be hot and dry (we did say “should”…). Most schools break up this month and the summer holidays begin.

Week-long/month-long events in July:

29th June – 12th July – Wimbledon. Annual tennis tournament. #Wimbledon

Key days in July:

4th: Independence Day (observed in the US)
7th: World Chocolate Day – One of the most delicious days of the year! #WorldChocolateDay
14th: Bastille Day
16th: Get to Know Your Customers Day – Again, another opportunity to get to know your customers and make sure they still match your personas. #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
24th: 24/7 Samaritans Awareness Day – Raise awareness of the work of the Samaritans and discuss mental health issues.
30th: International Day of Friendship – Celebrate and be grateful for the friendships we have – #InternationalDayOfFriendship

Key dates for August 2026

Even though it’s still summer, this is when most businesses will be getting ready to plan their seasonal campaigns.

Key days in August:

1st:World Wide Web Day
8th: International Cat Day – #CatDay
9th: Book Lovers Day
14th: National Financial Awareness day
26th: International Dog Day – #DogDay
31st: Bank Holiday

Key dates for September 2026

This month features Macmillan’s infamous Coffee Morning, so brush up on your baking skills and raise money for a worthwhile charity.

Week-long/month-long events in September:

18th – 27th – Great British Beach Clean – Get your business involved with local initiatives #CleanBeaches

Key days in September:

5th: International Day of Charity – Charities are vital and help many people in the world. All businesses could use today to donate to a charity.
12th: National Video games Day
21st: International Day of Peace – #InternationalDayOf Peace
22nd: Car Free Day – #CarFreeDay

Key dates for October 2026

The nights are drawing in and autumn is firmly upon us. It’s the month of cosying up, Halloween and pumpkin-flavoured everything!

Week-long/month-long events in October:

Black History Month – A month dedicated to black history. #BlackHistoryMonth
Stoptober – If you have been considering giving up smoking, this is the month to do it! If your business can help people quit, make sure you are promoting it this month. You can also offer tips and tricks to help those trying to quit.
Go Sober for October – Another charity day raising money by not drinking.

Key days in October:

1st: International Coffee Day – Commemorating our farmers, roasters, and coffee shop owners, where would we be without our morning pick me up? #CoffeeDay
1st: World Vegetarian Day
10th: World Mental Health Day – If you work in health then today you can post about mental health and some coping strategies. #WorldMentalHealthDay
11th: National Coming Out Day – A day to celebrate and raise awareness of the LGBT community.
15th: Get to Know Your Customers Day – Drill down into your customers and find out what really makes them tick. #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
15th: Global Wave of Light – At 7 pm the world lights a candle for those that have had the heartache of baby loss.
16th: World Food Day – #FoodDay
31st: Halloween

Key dates for November 2026

We are now firmly into the colder weather which means one thing; time to make sure you have your comms sorted for the festive season!

Week-long/month-long events in November:

Movember highlights the importance of men’s mental health and participants often try to grow the most spectacular facial hair.

Key days in November:

1st: World Vegan Day – Celebrate being meat-free
5th: Bonfire Night – While some love this night, others hate it. If you have anything that could help settle pets/children, get posting about your products in the run-up to tonight.
8th: Remembrance Sunday
8th: Diwali
11th: Remembrance Day
13th: World Kindness Day – How can your business show how kind it is? Could it be a charitable donation (or giving staff the afternoon off)?
14th: World Diabetes Day – Raise awareness of diabetes. A great day to post something if you are in health or even food. You can share some of the warning signs, or even a recipe.
19th: International Men’s Day – Raising awareness of issues men face.
27th: Black Friday – Are you having a Black Friday sale? It is one of the busiest days of a retailer’s year. Make sure you spread your message as far and wide as you can, on social media, email, and your website.
30th: St Andrew’s Day – A national holiday in Scotland where everything Scottish is celebrated. #StAndrewsDay
30th: Cyber Monday

Key dates for December 2026

December will be a busy month for many businesses, there is just so much to do. We recommend that you plan as much as possible and schedule your social media messages in advance. You should also consider your opening hours over Christmas and the New Year.

Week-long/month-long events in December:

4th – 12th – Hanukkah – Jewish festival

Key days in December:

3rd: International Day of Persons With Disabilities – With 1:4 people having a disability, consider if your workplace has any barriers. #IDPWD
4th: World Wildlife Conservation Day
5th: International Volunteer Day – Celebrate those who volunteer. If your business relies on volunteers, make sure you give them a shout-out on social media today.
11th: Christmas Jumper Day – It’s the one day of the year when businesses get their staff to wear Christmas jumpers and make a small donation to charity.
24th: Christmas Eve – Make sure you update your business hours for the festive season.
25th: Christmas Day – Have a scheduled message go out over your social media wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
26th: Boxing Day – A bank holiday in the UK.
31st: New Year’s Eve – Make sure you have a scheduled post to go out wishing all your customers a happy new year. #HappyNewYear

Hopefully you’re now bursting with ideas for your 2025 social strategy and don’t forget to download our free social media calendar template to keep your content strategy on track all year long!

Meet the Author

Leah Davies

Leah is a marketing manager with over 10 years of experience in advertising and marketing. She holds a Diploma in Digital Marketing and a specialist certification in Social Media, both awarded by the DMI. Leah helps businesses build stronger connections with their audiences through smart and effective digital strategies.

Dates for your 2026 Social Media Calendar (with Download)