Alright drinking buddies, this is the most important list you’ll see all year. There are tons (and we mean tons) of drinking holidays to get hyped for. It seems there’s a day to celebrate just about every type of alcohol and cocktail out there!
Be sure to check if a drinking holiday falls on your birthday, because with a list this long, one is bound to.
Jump to…
January Drinking Holidays
January 1 – National Bloody Mary Day
Celebrate the start of the year with the best brunch cocktail!
January 1 – National Hangover Day
Well, it is the day after New Years Eve.
January 3 – National Drinking Straw Day
So it’s said that straws were first invented around 5,000 years ago by Sumerians, and get this – it was to drink beer. The straw was finally patented in the 1800s by a man who wanted a better way to drink his mint juleps. So grab a drink, grab a stainless steel straw, and enjoy Straw Day!
January 8-14 – National Mocktail Week
If you’re into non-alcoholic fancy drinks, this week is for you!
January 17 – National Bootlegger’s Day
Prohibition saw the outlawing of alcohol on January 17, 1920, and this of course led to the rise of bootleggers! They derived their name from the act of hiding flasks in boots when going to sell or trade alcohol. Seems like a fitting day to pour yourself a nice glass of whiskey.
January 17 – National Hot Buttered Rum Day
This drink is made with rum, butter, hot water, sweetener, and spices like cinnamon and cloves. Its roots reach back to colonial days when people needed a nice hot drink to get through those cold winter days.
January 24 – Beer Can Appreciation Day
This day in 1935 marks the day beer was initially sold in beer cans. Until then, people would fill up their growlers to take beer home, but this was only possible when bars were actually open. (Growlers have actually been growing in popularity again recently.) Sealed cans of beer meant people could finally buy beer at the store!
January 25 – National Irish Coffee Day
The classic combo of coffee, sugar, whiskey, and cream. Goes great with breakfast.
January 31 – National Hot Chocolate Day
There are some absolutely delicious hot chocolate cocktails out there – try adding some cinnamon cream liqueur and you won’t be disappointed!
February Drinking Holidays
February 13 – Super Bowl Day
A day for pizza and beer!
February 14 – Football Hangover Day
A day when you regret all the pizza and beer you had the day before.
February 13, 2021 – Global Movie Day
We had to include this one because movie drinking games deserve a spot on this list!
February 14, 2021 – Valentine’s Day
Whether you love this holiday or hate it, check out this list of Valentine’s Day drinking games to spice up the day.
February 18 – National Drink Wine Day
Sadly National Drink Wine Day doesn’t fall on #winewednesday this year, but it does fall on #thirstythursday. Celebrate by treating yourself to a bunch of unique wine samples!
February 22 – National Margarita Day
Goes great with tacos!
February 24 – World Bartender Day
Tip your bartender extra well this day. They do some dang good work.
February 27 – National Kahlua Day
This tasty coffee liqueur is popular enough to receive its own day!
March Drinking Holidays
March 3 – Moscow Mule Day
This is the best cocktail and it’s not up for debate and we won’t believe you if you say you don’t like it. There, we said it. This combo of vodka, lime, and ginger beer, served in a copper mug, is simply perfection. If you’re not sold, maybe drinking one out of this will change your mind:
March 3 – National Mulled Wine Day
Wine, but spicier.
March 5 – National Absinthe Day
A drink that Oscar Wilde, Hemingway, and Van Gogh all enjoyed. Just don’t go crazy and cut off your own ear.
March 22 – World Water Day
A holiday about water, thank goodness. You’re gonna need it after all these drinking holidays.
March 27 – International Whiskey Day
Whether it’s “whiskey” or “whisky” to you, I think we can all agree it deserves its own day.
April Drinking Holidays
April 3- World Party Day
This day was inspired by a novel entitled Flight: A Quantum Fiction Novel. Its themes of togetherness resonated with readers, who took the novel’s fictional April 3rd worldwide party into the real world.
April 7 – National Beer Day
Celebrating the day in 1933 that the first legally brewed beer was sold after 13 years of prohibition! By the way, April 6th is considered New Beer’s Eve.
April 19 – National Amaretto Day
Grab a bottle of the rich almond liqueur for this national holiday.
May Drinking Holidays
May 1 – National Homebrew Day
If you make your own beer, this day is for you!
May 2 – National Lemonade Day
Vodka’s favorite mixer.
May 4 – National Orange Juice Day
Champagne’s favorite mixer.
May 5 – Cinco De Mayo
A great day to celebrate with a margarita!
May 6 – National Beverage Day
A day to enjoy your favorite drink, whether it’s alcoholic or not.
May 7 – National Cosmopolitan Day
Popularized by Sex and the City, this is a nice sweet cocktail traditionally made with vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and lime juice.
May 9 – National Moscato Day
A sickeningly sweet and tantalizingly tasty wine.
May 16-22 – American Craft Beer Week
A whole week dedicated to beer! Find some breweries in your area and support that good ol’ local beer production. You can use the website craftbeer.com to find breweries in your hometown.
May 13 – World Cocktail Day
Make a cocktail! Any cocktail! Do it up fancy and use one of these crazy unique cocktail shakers.
May 15 – World Whiskey Day
Truly not sure why there’s an International Whiskey Day and a World Whiskey Day on different days… but hey that just means more whiskey. So no complaints here. And if you live in a major U.S. city, you can have whiskey delivered to you in the next 30 mins.
May 16 – National Mimosa Day
The second best brunch cocktail, beat out only by the delicious bloody mary. We never said this wasn’t an opinion piece.
May 21 – International Tea Day
Enjoy this versatile beverage hot or cold. Or long island-ed.
May 22 – National Craft Distillery Day
Celebrate with spirits from a local distillery! Distilling.com provides a map that’ll help you find distilleries near you.
May 25 – National Wine Day
Not to be confused with National Drink Wine Day on February 18, apparently. Enjoy this day with a tasting flight of wines!
May 28 – National Cooler Day
Ah, the cooler, the beloved rectangular prism that keeps beer crisp and fresh. This holiday, occurring each Friday before Memorial Day, was founded by the Rtic Cooler company (likely to drive sales before one of the biggest outdoor holidays of the year). But there’s no doubt they make pretty great coolers in all different shapes and sizes.
May 30 – National Mint Julep Day
Bourbon, sugar, water, and mint, best served in a highball glass with a cute mint garnish. This cocktail is associated with the south, and specifically, the Kentucky Derby.
June Drinking Holidays
June 4 – National Cognac Day
A day to celebrate cognac, a type of brandy named after Cognac, France.
June 5 – National Moonshine Day
Clean out your bathtub, folks, it’s time to make moonshine! Or, given that it’s not 1920 any more, you can actually buy alcohol labeled as moonshine. The bonus is that you probably won’t accidentally poison yourself.
June 10 – National Iced Tea Day
There’s nothing more refreshing than a cold sweet tea on a hot day!
June 12 – National Rosé Day
Rosé, all day.
June 14 – National Bourbon Day
Drink it straight, or try out some of these tasty bourbon recipes. By the way, if you live in a major U.S. city, you can have bourbon delivered to your doorstep in 30 minutes.
June 19 – National Martini Day
Shaken, or stirred?
July Drinking Holidays
July 2 – National Anisette Day
This is one of the weirder alcohol holidays. It’s a liqueur made from aniseed, a.k.a the black licorice flavor. No offense to the anisette but personally we’re gonna sit this one out. But if you’re bold and want to try it, you can find it here.
July 7 – National Dive Bar Day
Seagram’s 7, a whiskey brand, created this day to fall on 7/7. Pretty clever.
July 10 – National Piña Colada Day
If you like piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain, then this is the day for you.
July 11 – National Mojito Day
Okay now this is a personal favorite. A delicious combo of white rum, lime, sugar, mint, and club soda.
July 12 – Eat Your Jello Day
Or, mayhaps, jello shots?
July 19 – National Daiquiri Day
A simple but delicious drink made from white rum, fruit juice, and sweetener. Definitely invokes some beachy vibes.
July 24 – National Tequila Day
“One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!” Need tequila now? Get it delivered to your door.
July 25 – National Wine & Cheese Day
Now this is a day worth celebrating. Have some fun figuring out your favorite wine & cheese combos! What you need: some wine samples, a variety of cheese, and a fun cheese platter.
July 27 – National Scotch Day
If you’re one of those people who prefers Scotch whisky over whiskey, this is the day for you.
August Drinking Holidays
August 5 – National IPA Day
Different beers are meant to be enjoyed out of different types of glasses, so grab an IPA and some glasses that are specially made to “enhance aromatics” of the IPA.
August 5 – International Beer Day
On the first Friday of every August, celebrate with your favorite beer!
August 7 – Mead Day
The American Homebrewers Association created this day to celebrate the deliciousness of honey wine.
August 13 – National Prosecco Day
Prosecco is great on its own, but you can also check out the website proseccolovers.com for a seemingly infinite number of prosecco cocktail recipes.
August 16 – National Rum Day
“What’s your biggest adult failure to date? Be honest. Did it involve coconut-flavored rum? It did, didn’t it? Oh, coconut rum.” – Adulting, by Kelly Brown. We’re willing to bet she’s not wrong.
August 18 – National Pinot Noir Day
If you’re an Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fan, the ultimate way to celebrate this day is to drink Pinot Noir while watching Titus sing Peeno Noir.
August 25 – National Whiskey Sour Day
All you need is whiskey, lemon juice, and sugar, and you’ve got yourself a perfect after-work cocktail.
August 28 – National Red Wine Day
“Red red wine you make me feel so fine, you keep me rockin’ all of the time”
September Drinking Holidays
September 4 – National Tailgating Day
A perfect day to get some beer and play some cornhole or beer pong.
September 7 – National Beer Lovers Day
You love beer, so drink beer.
September 12 – National Video Games Day
We had to include this one because video games and drinking games go together so well.
September 15 – National Creme De Menthe Day
This liqueur was actually created in the late-1800s as a tonic to aid digestion, so you’re really doing yourself a favor here.
September 20 – National Punch Day
If you’re not in college anymore, you no longer have to drink punch out of a trash can at a fraternity party. Punch can be a classy thing!
September 28 – National Drink Beer Day
Because there aren’t enough beer drinking holidays, right?
September 29 – National Coffee Day
Perhaps the most important beverage on this list! It’s not necessarily an alcoholic drink, but we couldn’t leave out the thing that gets us all going in the morning.
September 30 – National Hot Mulled Cider Day
It’s delicious, easy to make, and will make your whole house smell good. “Spike” it by adding a bit of rum or brandy.
October Drinking Holidays
October 4 – National Vodka Day
We all know vodka is not great on its own, so check out these delicious cocktails you can make with it.
October 6 – National Orange Wine Day
Orange wine is not as well know, but this bold and flavorful wine deserves its own day too!
October 16 – National Liqueur Day
Liqueurs are the great things that make our cocktails taste even better, and there are SO many great choices out there. From fruity ones, to herby ones, to creamy ones, you really can’t go wrong. You can even make your own, if you’re feeling crafty!
October 19 – International Gin & Tonic Day
What you need: Gin. Tonic water. It’s that simple.
October 20 – National Brandied Fruit Day
This idea came about a couple hundred years ago, supposedly to make fruit last longer. But we think people just wanted to make their breakfast fruit plate more exciting.
October 27 – National American Beer Day
This is, what, the 10th beer holiday of the year? I guess one can never have too many excuses to drink beer.
October 31 – Halloween
One of the best holidays of the year! Make a spooky drink and check out all these great Halloween movie drinking games.
November Drinking Holidays
November 17 – International Happy Gose Day
If you haven’t tried gose, a sour wheat beer, we highly recommend. It originated in Goslar, Germany in the 1500s and is now made in breweries all over the world. They range from “hm that’s nice” to full on pucker face.
November 24 – Thanksgiving Day
This holiday is all about turkey + wine. Check out some fun drinking games you can play on Thanksgiving.
December Drinking Holidays
December 3 – National Bartender Day
The company Sailor Jerry Rum founded this day to show some appreciation for the people who work so hard to make us our favorite drinks.
December 5 – National Repeal Day
Ding, dong, prohibition is dead! This is the day in 1933 that the 13 year long prohibition was finally ended.
December 10 – National Lager Day
Lager is such a popular type of beer that apparently it gets its own day. It’s light and refreshing, and you can find it almost anywhere.
December 20 – National Sangria Day
We’d argue that sangria is actually good for you because you’re getting in your fruit servings for the day!
December 24 – National Eggnog Day
Whether you buy it pre-made or make it yourself, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, Christmas Eve is the perfect time to break out the eggnog.
December 25 – Christmas Day
After you open all the presents, break out the eggnog and enjoy some Christmas movie drinking games!
December 31 – National Champagne Day
Celebrate New Years Eve in style with some champagne! Or watch some Futurama so you can laugh at Zap Brannigan say cham-paggin.
No matter how you celebrate these holidays, remember to play it safe! Know your limits and drink plenty of water.
And if you want to pair a drinking game with any of these wonderful alcohols, we’ve got tons of recommendations for movies, TV shows, video games, and board & card games.
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