When is Father’s Day?

Father’s Day: When is it and why do we mark the date?

Father’s Day is celebrated in June and originates from 20th century USA.

In 2024 it falls on Sunday 16th June.

Father’s Day is a day to thank Dads for their love and dedication and to acknowledge what they do throughout the year. It is an opportunity for children to show their appreciation whether it be through a card or gift or just spending some quality time with their Dads.

Here’s when to celebrate this year and the reason behind the special day.

In the UK ( and many other countries around the world), Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. It is a similar time to the Summer Solstice (find out more here) which means that the Dads get an extra long day to celebrate!

For centuries, the Orthodox Church has commemorated fathers on the Sunday of the Forefathers, the 2^nd Sunday before Nativity.

Another customary day for the celebration of fatherhood in catholic Europe is known to date back to at least 1508. Usually celebrated on 19^th March, the feast day of Saint Joseph, who is referred to as the fatherly Nutritor Domini (Nourisher of the Lord) in Catholicism, and of course, the father of Jesus. This celebration was brought to the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese.

It was the daughter of an American civil war veteran, Sonora Smart Dodd, who founded Father’s Day as we know it today.

Smart held her father, a single parent, in great esteem and when she listened to a church sermon about the newly recognized Mother’s Day, Sonora felt strongly that fatherhood needed recognition as well. She approached the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and suggested her own father’s birthday, of June 5, as the day of honour for fathers. The Alliance chose the third Sunday in June instead.

The first Father’s Day was celebrated June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington and over time, the idea of Father’s Day became popular across the nation. President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honouring fathers in 1966, making the third Sunday in June Father’s Day. Six years later President Richard Nixon signed it into law.

Dodd’s message later spread to other countries across the globe and it is thought that Britain began celebrating Father’s Day after World War II.