Today I am answering a question sent in by my friend, Judy.
“National Margarita Day is February 22. How do you go about getting a National Day? Joe asked if it had to go in front of Congress. How does that work?”
This is an excellent question because I talk about holidays all the time. On the Footle and Grok podcast, I devote every Monday to the topic. Today, I will explain the different types of holidays and how they are made.
First of all, anyone can declare a holiday. The trick is making it popular. For example, two guys decided that September 16 should be Talk like a Pirate Day. And so it was. But it wasn’t until they enlisted Dave Barry’s help that the holiday became well known and celebrated by other people.
Some people copyright their holidays. In theory, that means we have to pay them to celebrate. That makes no sense to me. I stay away from copyrighted holidays, and so we all lose.
Next are national holidays. They sound official, right? The truth is anyone can call their holiday “national.” It doesn’t mean anything, it just sounds important.
If you are a business or an organization, you can create a “National” holiday and get it registered with the National Day Calendar. Then your holiday becomes easier to find and more popular. National Margarita Day, which Judy mentioned in her question, was created by Karma Tequila.
Some countries have a National Holiday, where everyone gets the day off. We here in America do not. Lots of people work on holidays.
There are ten federal holidays. (None of these holidays have “National” in their title.) These are created either by Presidental proclamation or a vote by Congress. Non-essential government workers, schools, and banks take the day off.
Creating a federal holiday is difficult. One way to have success is to start in the states. If you can get several states to celebrate your new holiday, then Congress might notice.
You can also start an online petition, but this can take time, so be patient. Remember, it took Sarah Hale* thirty-eight years and thousands of letters before Abraham Lincoln finally made Thanksgiving a federal holiday.
There you have it. Anyone can create a holiday, and add the name “National” if they choose. It’s up to you to spread the word. Businesses and non-profits can register their national holiday for more exposure. If a holiday becomes popular enough, then it can be adopted by the states and voted on by Congress. This doesn’t happen very often, or else we’d never get any work done.
I hope this answers your question**, Judy. I have added links throughout this post so you can learn more. Everyone should make a holiday and spread happiness. What holiday would you create?
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**I would love for more of my readers to send in questions. Answering them is fun.