Why this one is split by market
Most digital PR calendars are quietly American. Pitching a US date to a American desk is the fastest way to be
ignored, and several moments that share a name fall in different months depending on where you are: Father's Day
lands in June in the UK and the US, and in September in Australia. This calendar covers the USA specifically.
How to use it
Work backwards from the date, not forwards from today. Seasonal desks plan weeks ahead and the story window
opens and closes long before the moment itself, which is why every row below carries a pitch-by column rather
than just a date. Pick four or five moments for the year that your own data can genuinely speak to, and ignore
the rest. A calendar is a filter, not a to-do list.
The one rule: bring your own data
A date on its own is not a story. What earns the link is a number nobody else can publish, tied to a moment a
journalist is already writing about. Every row below names the kind of first-party data that turns the moment
into a pitch. If you cannot supply that data, skip the date rather than sending a press release about a day.
A note on dates
Fixed moments carry their exact date. Movable ones carry the rule that sets them, such as the fourth Thursday
in November, rather than a single year's date. That keeps the calendar correct every year instead of going stale
each January, and it is how newsrooms think about them anyway.
The USA calendar, month by month
January
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| New Year reinvention | 1 Jan | Early-mid Dec | Resolution and reinvention data: what people change vs quit |
| Quitters Day | 9 Jan | Early Dec | Why resolutions fail, backed by your retention data |
| Blue Monday | 19 Jan | Early Dec | Mood or engagement data. Say plainly it is a marketing invention if you use it |
| Dry January | All January | Late Nov | Sober-curious spend and no/low alcohol trend |
| Martin Luther King Jr Day | 19 Jan | Mid Nov | Only with a substantive programme. Commercial pitches are poorly received |
February
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| Safer Internet Day | 10 Feb | Early Jan | Password hygiene, scam exposure or fraud attempts you observe |
| Valentine's Day | 14 Feb | Mid Jan | Spend, dating and anti-Valentine angles |
| Lunar New Year (Year of the Horse) | 17 Feb | Early Jan | Spend, travel and gifting data |
| Ramadan | ~18 Feb to ~19 Mar | Early Jan | Food, community and late-night commerce data |
| Groundhog Day | 2 Feb | Mid Dec | Repetition or habit-loop data from your own platform |
| Super Bowl LX | 8 Feb | Early Jan | Ad spend, betting and food-order data |
| National Pizza Day | 9 Feb | Mid Dec | Order volume, topping or late-night-ordering data |
| Presidents Day | 16 Feb | Early Jan | Retail and travel data across the long weekend |
March
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| International Women's Day | 8 Mar | Early Feb | A gender-gap number you can evidence, not platitudes |
| Pi Day | 14 Mar | Mid Jan | Anything genuinely numeric in your category, plus the food-desk pun |
| St Patrick's Day | 17 Mar | Early Feb | Hospitality, drinks and going-out spend |
| Eid al-Fitr | ~20 Mar | Early Feb | Gifting, food and community spend |
| World Sleep Day | Friday before the equinox | Early Feb | Usage-by-hour data showing when people are actually awake |
| US daylight saving starts | 8 Mar | Early Feb | Sleep, productivity and safety data |
| March Madness | Mar to early Apr | Mid Jan | Productivity, viewing or bracket-behaviour data |
April
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| April Fools' Day | 1 Apr | Mid Feb | Only if the joke carries a real insight. A stunt with no data is coverage you cannot repeat |
| Easter long weekend | 3 to 6 Apr | Late Feb | Travel, spend and family data |
| Earth Day | 22 Apr | Early Mar | Sustainability data you can actually prove |
| Tax Day | ~15 Apr | Mid Feb | Filing timing, refund or deduction data |
May
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| Star Wars Day | 4 May | Late Mar | Pop-culture and merch spend data |
| World Password Day | 7 May | Mid Mar | Password reuse, breach exposure or reset volumes from your own systems |
| Global Accessibility Awareness Day | 21 May | Late Mar | Accessibility failures across your sector, audited properly |
| World Bee Day | 20 May | Late Mar | Environmental or supply-chain data with a genuine link to your category |
| Cinco de Mayo | 5 May | Mid Mar | Hospitality and beverage spend data |
| Mother's Day (US) | 10 May | Mid Mar | Spend, gifting and sentiment data |
| Memorial Day | 25 May | Mid Mar | Travel, grilling or retail data. Treat the observance respectfully |
June
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| World Environment Day | 5 Jun | Mid Apr | Sustainability data, evidenced |
| Pride Month | All June | Early Apr | Inclusion data with substance, never rainbow-washing |
| Juneteenth | 19 Jun | Late Apr | Only with a genuine programme behind it |
| Father's Day (US) | 21 Jun | Early May | Gifting and spend data |
July
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| World Emoji Day | 17 Jul | Late May | Emoji or language usage from your own messaging data |
| Amazon Prime Day | Mid July | Mid May | Sale-event shopper behaviour data |
| Independence Day | 4 Jul | Mid May | Travel, grilling, fireworks-safety or pet-anxiety data |
August
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| International Cat Day | 8 Aug | Mid Jun | Pet-adjacent spend, naming or claims data |
| International Left Handers Day | 13 Aug | Late Jun | Product or usage data split by handedness |
| International Dog Day | 26 Aug | Early Jul | Naming trends, insurance claims or spend from your own records |
| Back to school (US) | Varies | Early Jul | Education and supplies spend data |
September
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| Talk Like a Pirate Day | 19 Sep | Late Jul | Language, naming or search-quirk data. A genuine favourite of light-news slots |
| International Podcast Day | 30 Sep | Early Aug | Listening, completion or drop-off data |
| Labor Day | 7 Sep | Mid Jul | Travel, retail or working-hours data |
| Fall begins | 22 Sep | Late Jul | Seasonal home, spend and reset data |
| National Coffee Day (US) | 29 Sep | Early Aug | Consumption and spend data |
October
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| International Coffee Day | 1 Oct | Mid Aug | Consumption, spend or productivity-by-caffeine data |
| World Mental Health Day | 10 Oct | Early Sep | Wellbeing data with a credible angle. Never a stunt |
| Cybersecurity Awareness Month | All October | Early Sep | Breach, scam and password-behaviour data |
| Halloween | 31 Oct | Early Sep | Spend, trends and pop-culture data |
| Breast Cancer Awareness Month | All October | Early Sep | Health data with a credible, careful source |
November
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| Singles Day | 11 Nov | Early Oct | Global e-commerce spend and trend data |
| Movember | All November | Early Oct | Men's health data with a credible source |
| Black Friday | 27 Nov | Late Sep | The definitive sale-behaviour and spend story |
| Cyber Monday | 30 Nov | Late Sep | Online-only sale behaviour and device-split data |
| Thanksgiving | 26 Nov | Early Oct | Travel, food and family-spend data |
| Small Business Saturday (US) | 28 Nov | Late Sep | Independent-retail spend data |
December
| Moment | Date | Pitch by | Data-led angle |
|---|
| Christmas | 25 Dec | Early Oct | Spend, stress, returns and gifting-fail data |
| Year in review | Throughout Dec | Early Nov | Your proprietary year-in-data story |
| New Year's Eve | 31 Dec | Early Nov | Celebration, safety and hospitality spend data |
| Holiday shipping deadlines | Mid Dec | Mid Oct | Delivery-window, late-order or returns data |
Download it
Two ways to take this with you. The Google Sheet drops a copy straight into your own Drive, filterable by month, by whether the date moves year to year, and by industry fit. The CSV imports into Sheets or Excel if you would rather start from a file. Both cover the USA only, so grab the other markets below if you work across regions.
The other markets
Working across regions? The same calendar exists for each one, with the local moments and the local dates.
