Jot these 2026 UK awareness days into your calendar and add some sauce to your social media marketing.
Knowing what to post on social media is no cakewalk. But with the right UK awareness days up your sleeve, you can create content with that extra touch of meaning and relatability.
To get you started, we’ve listed over 140 (yes, really) key dates to add to your social media calendars.
What is an awareness day?
An awareness day is a date designed to bring attention to critical causes, events and random topics.
Much like the famous Red Nose Day and the much-loved Valentine’s Day, there is pretty much an awareness day for everything.
For example, there is a National Chocolate Cake Day in January. Any excuse, eh?
An awareness day can be based on something small and light-hearted, simply for a bit of fun, or it can be part of a much bigger, deeper conversation.
Why do we have awareness days?
The main reason for awareness days, weeks and months is to encourage people to take action and drive change in some way.
Awareness days are created by individuals, organisations, or charities to mark a particular event, time, or object.
Why awareness days are important for social media marketing
When looking for content ideas, awareness days are an easy place to start.
The beauty of these awareness days is that they become a popular talking point on social media.
The day often comes with its own hashtag that trends because of the popularity and sheer quantity of posts going out on that given day.
Awareness days, weeks, and months count for timely social content that you can plan well in advance. They’re also a fantastic way of taking a trending topic and highlighting your view or efforts as a brand. It's something we always take into account as part of our social media management services.
Top UK awareness days in 2026 for social media
Awareness days in January 2025
🫑 Veganuary Month
💉 National Blood Donor Month
🍺 Dry January
🎉 1st – New Year’s Day
🧘 2nd – World Introvert Day
👂 4th – World Braille Day
🙂 7th – National Bobblehead Day
🫶 11th – Human Trafficking Awareness Day
🦠 12th – National Microbe Day
🍯 18th – National Winnie-the-Pooh Day
🙏 18th – World Religion Day
🌎 18th – World Snow Day
💙 19th – Blue Monday
☕ 19th – Brew Monday
🥧 23rd – National Pie Day
📚 24th – International Day of Education
🔥 25th – Burns Night
Awareness days in February 2026
🌈 LGBT+ History Month
📔 31st Jan–8th Feb – National Storytelling Week
🧠 2nd–8th – Children’s Mental Health Week
💗 4th – World Cancer Day
🥜 5th – World Nutella Day
🗣️ 5th – Time to Talk Day
🧪 9th–15th – National Apprenticeship Week
💻 10th – Safer Internet Day
👧 13th – Galentine’s Day
📗 14th – International Book Giving Day
💘 14th – Valentine’s Day
🤗 17th – Random Acts of Kindness Day
🌒 17th – Lunar New Year
🥞 20th – National Love Your Pet Day
💭 20th – World Day of Social Justice
📆 28th – Rare Disease Day
Awareness days in March 2026
✊🏼 Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
🐛 2nd – World Wildlife Day
🥧 2nd–8th – British Pie Week
📖 5th – World Book Day
🤝 6th – Employee Appreciation Day
💪 8th – International Women’s Day
🏇🏼 10th–13th – Cheltenham Festival
🚭 11th – National No Smoking Day
🍀 17th – St Patrick’s Day
😁 20th – International Day of Happiness
✍️ 21st – World Poetry Day
🌍 21st – International Day of Forests
💙 22nd – World Water Day
👩 15th – Mother’s Day
Awareness days in April 2026
🐶 National Pet Month
😓 Stress Awareness Month
😂 1st – April Fool’s Day
📖 2nd – World Autism Awareness Day
📕 2nd – International Children’s Book Day
🐟 3rd – Good Friday
🥚 5th – Easter Sunday
🍰 5th – National Caramel Day
🩹 7th – World Health Day
👯 10th – National Siblings Day
🧠 11th – World Parkinson’s Day
🍳 12th – 5 Years of Content Chef Ltd
🌎 22nd – Earth Day
🗓️ 23rd – St George’s Day
🏥 25th – World Malaria Day
🦸 28th – National Superhero Day
Awareness days in May 2026
🚶🏻 National Walking Month
🪄 2nd – Harry Potter Day
📰 3rd – World Press Freedom Day
🦔 4th–10th – National Hedgehog Awareness Week
⭐ 4th – Star Wars Day
🚀 5th – National Astronaut Day
💻 7th – World Password Day
✌️ 8th – VE Day
😴 11th–17th – ME Awareness Week
🧠 11th–15th – Learning at Work Week
⚕️ 12th – International Nurses Day
🍫 15th – National Chocolate Chip Day
🫎 15th – Endangered Species Day
Awareness days in June 2026
🏳️🌈 Pride Month
👨 1st – Global Day of Parents
🌿 5th – World Environment Day
🥗 7th–13th – National Salad Week
🧠💪 8th–14th – Men’s Health Week
🩸 14th – World Blood Donor Day
🧘 21st – International Day of Yoga
🎶 21st – World Music Day
👩🔬 23rd – International Women in Engineering Day
✍️ 24th – National Writing Day
🎪 24th – Glastonbury Festival Starts
🤳 30th – Social Media Day
Awareness days in July 2026
♻️ Plastic Free July
👽 2nd – World UFO Day
🎆 4th – Independence Day (USA)
🍺 6th–12th – Alcohol Awareness Week
🍫 7th – World Chocolate Day
🌍 11th – World Population Day
🐳 14th – Shark Awareness Day
😀 17th – World Emoji Day
🍦 19th – National Ice Cream Day
♟️ 20th – International Chess Day
🧴 24th – National Tequila Day
🤝 30th – International Day of Friendship
Awareness days in August 2026
🚲 7th – Cycle to Work Day
🤞🏼 7th – National Opportunity Day
😺 8th – International Cat Day
🫖 10th–16th – Afternoon Tea Week
😆 16th – National Tell a Joke Day
📸 19th – World Photography Day
🌍 22nd – World Plant Milk Day
🥭 23rd – National Plum Day
♀️ 26th – Women’s Equality Day
🧑🏼🍳31st – 9 Years of the Content Chef Brand
Awareness days in September 2026
💙 World Alzheimer’s Month
🩹 10th – World Suicide Prevention Day
🪖 11th – Remembrance Day (9/11)
🌳 21st – International Day of Peace
💍 22nd – National Hobbit Day
🚘 22nd – World Car Free Day
💪🏼 23rd – National Fitness Day
👋🏻 23rd – International Day of Sign Languages
🛌 25th – World Dream Day
🎧 30th – International Podcast Day
Awareness days in October 2026
🧠 World Mental Health Month
🩷 Breast Cancer Awareness Month
🥒 1st – World Vegetarian Day
🎞️ 3rd – Mean Girls Day
🐘 4th – World Animal Day
👴🏻 4th – Grandparents’ Day
🧑 6th – World Cerebral Palsy Day
🧠 10th – World Mental Health Day
🌈 11th – National Coming Out Day
🤰 15th – Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day
🍔 16th – World Food Day
🍝 17th – National Pasta Day
♀️ 18th – World Menopause Day
🎃 31st – Halloween
Awareness days in November 2026
🧔 Movember
🫁 Lung Cancer Awareness Month
🥕 1st – World Vegan Day
🥪 3rd – World Sandwich Day
🔥 5th – Bonfire Night
🔭 10th – World Science Day
❤️ 11th – Remembrance Day
😊 13th – World Kindness Day
🌎 14th – World Diabetes Day
♂️ 19th – International Men’s Day
📺 21st – World Television Day
🖤 27th – Black Friday
Awareness days in December 2026
🤝 1st – World AIDS Day
♿ 3rd – International Day of Persons with Disabilities
🙋 5th – International Volunteer Day
🕯 10th – Human Rights Day
🎄 11th – Christmas Jumper Day
🐵 14th – Monkey Day
❄️ 21st – Winter Solstice
🎄 24th – Christmas Eve
🎅 25th – Christmas Day
📦 26th – Boxing Day
🎇 31st – New Year’s Eve
Take your social media marketing one step further
This guide to UK awareness days in 2026 is a good start. But if you don’t have the time to keep track of or maximise the potential of your online presence, it might be time to outsource your social to an expert.
Here at Content Chef, we offer quality social media management services to help you generate new leads and raise brand awareness.
With a team of social media managers, in-house videographers and strategists at your disposal, you can start building a community of advocates and followers.
For more information, check out what's included in our social media management packages or get in touch today.
Written by the Content Chef team
