15-05-2025
How ridiculous awareness days (today is National Aperitif Day) took over our calendar
With everything going on in the world at the moment, you probably aren't in the mood for National Smile Month, which began on Monday.
The good news is that you aren't expected to grin inanely for the whole four weeks. Like many of these events, the idea is to chivvy you into being a better person. Look after your teeth properly, eat less sugar, avoid processed foods, drink more water, visit the dentist. You get the idea.
Why it takes a month to get this message across is anybody's guess, but National Smile Month is just one of the awareness events in an ever more crowded calendar.
Did you slog your way through Dry January, when we are also urged to go vegan? Or perhaps you worried that you weren't doing enough to mark Stress Awareness Month in April? Well, during May, you can afford to enjoy yourself for a bit.
Saturday May 3 was World Naked Gardening Day, when we are encouraged to let it all hang out by the herbaceous borders as we mulch our pinks and polish our dibbers.
This mixture of Monty Don and Sid James was invented by some American naturists in 2005, but spread across the world like Japanese knotweed. In New Zealand, where it's a bit nippy in May, they celebrate in October.
Is it just an unfortunate coincidence that naked gardeners shared the weekend with World Laughter Day? This was invented in India by Dr Madan Kataria, the creator of laughter yoga, and is held every year on the first Sunday of the month.
There are now so many events that it's becoming more and more difficult to know what we're supposed to be aware of and when. The Awareness Days website lists 74 events for May alone. They include National Doughnut Week, British Tomato Fortnight, English Wine Week, National Conversation Week and National Beer Garden Day.
You can wear eccentric trousers on May 16 in support of sick children for Wallace and Gromit's Wrong Trousers Day and wear a silly hat on May 24 in aid of a brain injuries charity during Hats for Headway Day.
And the Awareness Days website doesn't even mention Star Wars Day (May 4), Eat What You Want Day (May 11), International No Diet Day (May 6) or National Leprechaun Day. That's held on May 13, which is also World Cocktail Day and Hummus Day.
As you can see, some of the days are more serious than others. Most of the campaigns are designed to improve us or to draw our attention to something worthy: Dry January, Veganuary, Urology Awareness Month (September) and that sort of thing.
Then there are events designed to raise money for good causes. Perhaps the best known of these is Movember, when men grow moustaches in aid of prostate and testicular cancer research. Over 21 years, Movember has raised £945 million worldwide.
But there's also Football Shirt Friday. Every April, which is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, football fans wear their favourite shirt and donate to the Bobby Moore Fund, which was created in memory of the former England captain, who died of bowel cancer at the age of just 51. The campaign has raised more than £1 million since it began in 2013.
The packed calendar does create the risk that issues of genuine importance get lost in the crowd. June 1, for example, is both World Reef Day as well as National Cancer Survivors Day and marks the start of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, Pride Month, National Age Without Apology Month and Sands (the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity) Awareness Month.
Many of the days which clutter up the schedule are the work of clever PR and marketing machines, but some campaigns which undoubtedly benefit particular industries are run by enthusiasts. World Gin Day (June 14 this year) was started by gin lover Neil Houston but is now run by Emma Stokes, the creator of the Gin Monkey website.
'World Gin Day is my way of giving back to the gin community that has given me so much over the years,' she says.
'I think if you'd ask gin brands, World Gin Day has been instrumental in building a community and supporting the rise in gin.'
If you're not a gin fan, you might prefer to raise a glass at 7pm the day after to mark Beer Day Britain, launched in 2015 by drinks expert Jane Peyton. 'Pubs hold special events,' she says. 'I know of a couple of care homes that have Beer Day parties. Some people arrange ale trails. It varies year to year.'
One of the more eccentric events on the calendar is celebrated annually on September 21. Telegraph Pole Appreciation Day was founded in 1997 by publisher Martin Evans, who is not only the author of Telegraph Pole Appreciation for Beginners but also runs the Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society. (Motto: 'If it's tall, wooden, sticky-uppy and got wires coming out the top then we appreciate it.')
'It was really a day that I just made up,' he admits. 'The notion of a specific appreciation day came on one of those fine late September mornings when I observed a fine run of poles disappearing off into the early mist over undulating fields. I thought, 'More people need to feel what I'm feeling now.'
'I can't remember how we ended up on event websites. I've been banging on about September 21 for years, so I think they might have just picked it up.'
Telegraph Pole Day is a good example of the benefits of awareness days. The society now has more than 1,300 members, which you might think is quite a lot of people swapping information about telegraph poles.
Still, even the most unlikely people have their moment in the awareness day spotlight. You wouldn't think politicians are particularly popular at the moment – or indeed ever – but this Monday (May 19), the United States will be marking Celebrate Your Elected Officials Day.
'They often work long hours, juggling complex tasks, without much praise,' explains the Days of the Year website. 'On this day, we shift focus and say thank you – openly and sincerely.' Well, almost sincerely.
Two days earlier, estate agents get to bask in our collective gratitude. On May 17, Americans mark National Real Estate Day. Established in 2016, this is when property owners 'reach out to your real estate agent and say thanks'.
Even lawyers have their big day. In fact, lawyers seem to have a whole list of days: they probably threatened to sue for negligence if they were ignored.
These include International Be Kind to Lawyers Day, which has been held since 2017 on the second Tuesday of April. In the US, there is National Lawyer Well-Being Week, National Law Week, Love Litigating Lawyers Day, National Paralegal Day, Hug a Lawyer Day, and Love Your Lawyer Day.
Oh, and let's not forget the International Day of Women Judges, which is held every March 10 on the orders of the United Nations.
You will scarcely believe this, but there is even a day set aside to admire the work of a group who regularly find themselves quite unfairly ranked in the lowest depths of public esteem, alongside estate agents, politicians, lawyers and the rest. I refer, of course, to journalists.
National Journalism Day, which is known more formally as World Press Freedom Day, was established by the United Nations in 1993 and is held each year on May 3.
You can be forgiven for missing the street parties and the dancing this year. You were probably in the garden, completely starkers, and trying to keep the strimmer away from your old man's beard.
