Father’s Day is held on the third Sunday of June in the United Kingdom and USA. It is a day to honor fathers and father figures, such as grandfathers and fathers-in-law. Many people make a special effort to visit their fathers or to send them a card or gift.

In the days and weeks before Father’s Day, many schools, Sunday schools and children’s organizations help their pupils to prepare a handmade card or gift for their father. Mothers and other family members may help children to make personalized gifts, such as calendars with drawings.

Some families celebrate Father’s Day by planning an outing or weekend trip. This may be a simple walk in the countryside or a whole planned “experience”. Other families organize a special meal at home or in a pub or restaurant. A common Father’s Day meal is a traditional roast dinner with meat, stuffing, potatoes and vegetables, which can be eaten in a pub and accompanied by a pint of ale or lager.

Father’s Day is not a bank holiday. In terms of public life, it is a normal Sunday. Public transport systems run to their normal timetables. Pubs and restaurants may be busy, as people take their fathers out for a meal to celebrate.

There are some suggestions that the idea of Father’s Day may originate in pagan sun worship. Some branches of paganism see the Sun as the father of the universe. Since the summer solstice occurs around the same time of year as Father’s Day, some people see a link between the two.

The idea of a special day to honor fathers and celebrate fatherhood was introduced from the United States. Father’s Day has been celebrated in June since 1910 in the USA. The celebrations in the United Kingdom are thought to have been inspired by the American custom of Father’s Day. This is in contrast to Mother’s Day, which has a very different history in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Father’s Day is not a public holiday. It falls on Sunday, 16 June in 2024 and  most businesses follow regular Sunday opening hours in the United Kingdom and  the USA.

There are a range of events, which may have inspired the idea of Father’s Day. One of these was the start of the Mother’s Day tradition in the first decade of the 20th century. Another was a memorial service held in 1908 for a large group of men, many of them fathers, who were killed in a mining accident in Monongah, West Virginia in December 1907.

A woman called Sonora Smart Dodd was an influential figure in the establishment of Father’s Day in the States. Her father raised six children by himself after the death of their mother. This was uncommon at that time, as many widowers placed their children in the care of others or quickly married again.

Sonora was inspired by the work of Anna Jarvis, who had pushed for Mother’s Day celebrations. Sonora felt that her father deserved recognition for what he had done. Though the first time Father’s Day was held in the USA was in June 1910, Father’s Day was officially recognized as a holiday in 1972 by President Nixon.

Make sure your father has a lovely day on Sunday 16th June!