Fun national holidays to celebrate at work in 2027
Three fun national days for every month of 2027, each with its date and a quick way to mark it. Add them all to your calendar in one click.
Fun national holidays are the small, silly dates that give a team a reason to stop for ten minutes: Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, National Puzzle Day, Talk Like a Pirate Day. Almost all of them are unofficial. Nobody gets the day off, and most were started by a company, a radio host or a fan before calendar sites picked them up. Below are 36 weird and fun national days for 2027, three per month, each checked against its rule for the year, with one easy way to celebrate it at work or on a video call.
36 fun national days for 2027, month by month
Floating days show their rule. When a day lands on a weekend, the note says which workday to use.
January
- Sun
National Compliment Day. Ask every manager to send each person on their team one specific compliment in writing before noon.Falls on a Sunday; mark it Monday, January 25.
- Mon
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. Save the bubble wrap from recent deliveries, leave a sheet on every desk and pop together at standup.Last Monday in January.
- Fri
National Puzzle Day. Turn a team photo into a 300-piece jigsaw at any photo printer and race to finish it over lunch.
February
- Tue
Groundhog Day. Have everyone guess the first day your city hits 60 degrees; the closest guess wins a spring lunch.
- Tue
National Pizza Day. Order three pizzas with toppings nobody would pick and vote on the strangest one that works.
- Wed
National Tortilla Chip Day. Line up three salsas from mild to fiery next to a bowl of chips and let people find their limit.
March
- Mon
National Proofreading Day. Hide five typos in the morning announcement; the first person to reply with all five picks the next lunch spot.
- Mon
National Napping Day. Keep the first morning after the clocks change meeting-free and let people block a 20-minute rest break.Monday after clocks spring forward.
- Wed
World Backup Day. Ask IT for a 15-minute session on where files should live, then have everyone check their own backups.
April
- Thu
National High Five Day. High-five someone who helped you this month, in person or as an emoji in the team channel, and say what for.Third Thursday in April.
- Fri
National Picnic Day. Ask everyone to bring one picnic dish that needs no fridge and eat together outdoors at noon.
- Wed
National Superhero Day. Have everyone post their work superpower in one word on a shared board, then guess who wrote which.
May
- Sun
World Laughter Day. Open the next meeting with two minutes of laughter yoga: everyone fakes a laugh until real ones take over.First Sunday in May. Falls on a Sunday; mark it Monday, May 3.
- Wed
National Paper Airplane Day. Everyone writes a question on a sheet, folds it into a plane and throws it; whoever picks one up answers it.
- Fri
National Hamburger Day. Order lunch from the best burger place nearby, veggie burgers included, and rank the toppings as a team.
June
- Fri
National Donut Day. Bring donuts and share the story: it began in 1938 to honor the women who fried donuts for World War I soldiers.First Friday in June.
- Tue
National Best Friends Day. Invite people to post one line in the team channel about the coworker who first showed them the ropes.
- Mon
National Selfie Day. Take one team selfie at the start of every meeting that day and post the best one in the team channel.
July
- Wed
National Mac and Cheese Day. Run a slow-cooker mac and cheese cook-off with paper bowls and let the team vote on the best topping.
- Sun
National Ice Cream Day. Walk to the nearest ice cream shop at 3 p.m. and try a flavor you've never had; Reagan proclaimed the day in 1984.Third Sunday in July. Falls on a Sunday; mark it Monday, July 19.
- Fri
System Administrator Appreciation Day. Have the team sign a card for your IT people listing problems they fixed this year, then take them to lunch.Last Friday in July.
August
- Mon
National Book Lovers Day. Ask everyone for the best book they read this year in one sentence and turn the answers into a shared list.
- Fri
International Left-Handers Day. Have right-handers sign their name and draw a cat with their left hand, then post the drawings side by side.
- Tue
National Waffle Day. Order a tray of waffles from a nearby diner for the morning meeting; the date marks an 1869 waffle iron patent.
September
- Mon
Day of the Programmer. Thank your engineers on day 256 (the number of values one byte can hold) with a treat and a note on what they built.Day 256 of the year.
- Sun
International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Run the first five minutes of standup in pirate speak, then carry on as normal.Falls on a Sunday; mark it Monday, September 20.
- Fri
National Punctuation Day. Post a sentence that changes meaning with one comma moved and ask who can explain both readings.
October
- Fri
World Smile Day. Ask everyone to post the one photo on their phone that always makes them smile, no explanation needed.First Friday in October.
- Tue
National Taco Day. Order the same taco from three local taquerias for lunch and vote on which one wins.First Tuesday in October.
- Thu
National Chocolate Day. Line up four unlabeled chocolate bars from 30% to 85% cacao and have people sort them from mildest to darkest.
November
- Wed
National Sandwich Day. Ask each person to bring one ingredient, build sandwiches together and crown the oddest pairing that works.
- Mon
National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. Empty the office fridge together at 4 p.m., with a warning email the day before and a small prize for the oldest find.
- Sun
World Hello Day. Challenge everyone to say hello to ten people they don't usually talk to, in the hallway or in chat.Falls on a Sunday; mark it Monday, November 22.
December
- Sat
National Cookie Day. Ask everyone to name the cookie they grew up with, then order a mixed box of the five most-named.Falls on a Saturday; mark it Friday, December 3.
- Wed
National Brownie Day. Hold a brownie bake-off and settle the edge piece versus middle piece debate with a team vote.
- Mon
National Cocoa Day. Mail remote teammates a cocoa packet ahead of time and drink a cup together on the day's team call.
Want the holidays, heritage months and HR dates too? Our employee engagement calendar covers them, and the diversity calendar lists cultural and religious observances.
How to pick national days to celebrate at work
A fun day works when it's quick, cheap and open to everyone.
- One a month is plenty. A fun day every week turns into background noise. Pick the twelve your team will actually enjoy.
- Match the day to the team. Day of the Programmer suits an engineering group; Proofreading Day suits the people who write your newsletters.
- Keep it short and optional. Fifteen minutes at the start of a meeting or a treat in the kitchen is enough. Nobody should feel they have to join.
- Feed every diet. On food days, add a vegetarian, a gluten-free and a dairy-free option, and label anything with nuts.
- Give remote people the same moment. Put it on the video call rather than only in the kitchen, or let remote teammates expense a small treat.
- Move weekend days to a workday. The list does this for you: a Saturday date shifts to Friday, a Sunday date to Monday.
When a fun day deserves a real event
A few of these days make a natural theme for a hosted virtual activity.
- National Puzzle Day: go bigger with a hosted virtual escape room.
- World Laughter Day: book a live improv workshop.
- National Paper Airplane Day: keep folding with a guided origami class.
- National Cookie Day: ship kits for a virtual cookie decorating class.
- National Cocoa Day: make it hands-on with a hot chocolate bomb class.
For any other day, a hosted game show turns the excuse into an event the whole team can join from anywhere.
Fun days with their own guides
These are popular enough at work that we wrote a full plan for each.
- Fun at Work Day in late January
- April Fools' Day on April 1, with pranks that stay harmless
- Bring Your Dog to Work Day in June
- National Intern Day in July, for your summer interns
- Make a Difference Day in October, for a team volunteer day
- An ugly sweater party for December
