National Blueberry Popsicle Day
September 2
About National Blueberry Popsicle Day
National Blueberry Popsicle Day is observed on 2 September each year in the United States, a fun and flavourful food holiday dedicated to one of summer’s most beloved frozen treats. The day celebrates the blueberry popsicle specifically, combining the sweetness and tartness of blueberries with the simple joy of a frozen treat on a stick, and it also marks the unofficial start of National Blueberry Popsicle Month throughout September.
What is National Blueberry Popsicle Day?
National Blueberry Popsicle Day is an informal food observance that celebrates the blueberry popsicle as a seasonal treat worth its own dedicated moment in the calendar. Like many food holidays in the United States, it has no formal governing body or official sponsor, but it has been widely adopted by food blogs, calendar sites, and communities of food enthusiasts who enjoy having a reason to indulge in a particular flavour. The day falls at the very beginning of September, straddling the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, and invites people to enjoy one of summer’s characteristic frozen treats before the season fully turns.
When is National Blueberry Popsicle Day?
National Blueberry Popsicle Day is observed on 2 September every year. The date also marks the beginning of National Blueberry Popsicle Month, which runs throughout September, extending the celebration of this particular flavour into the early weeks of autumn.
The History of the Popsicle
The origin of the popsicle is one of those happy accidents that food history is full of. In 1905, an eleven-year-old boy named Frank Epperson was experimenting on his porch in San Francisco, mixing water with a powdered flavouring to make a soft drink. He went inside and forgot about it, leaving the mixture outside on a cold night with the stirring stick still in the cup. When he returned the following morning, he found the mixture had frozen solid around the stick, creating the first accidental frozen treat on a stick.
Epperson did not immediately pursue the idea commercially. It was not until 1922 that he introduced his frozen creation at a fireman’s ball, where it proved enormously popular. In 1923, he began selling the treat at an amusement park in Alameda, California, calling it the Epsicle. He later applied for a patent in 1924 and sold the rights to the Joe Lowe Company, which renamed it the Popsicle, a portmanteau of “pop” and “icicle”.
The popsicle became a household staple through the mid-twentieth century, evolving into the wide range of flavours, colours, and formats available today. Blueberry became one of the more popular fruit flavours, appealing to people who wanted something less sweet than strawberry or more distinctive than orange.
Why Blueberries?
Blueberries are among the most nutritionally celebrated berries in the world, widely recognised for their high antioxidant content, particularly anthocyanins, which give them their distinctive deep blue colour. They are a good source of vitamins C and K, manganese, and dietary fibre. Their flavour profile is balanced between sweet and tart, making them well suited to frozen treats where cold temperature can suppress sweetness slightly, allowing more complex notes to come through.
Blueberries are cultivated widely across North America, with the United States being one of the world’s largest producers. North American highbush blueberries are the variety most commonly found in commercial products, though wild lowbush blueberries from regions like Maine and Canada are prized for their more intense flavour. The berry’s peak season in the northern hemisphere runs roughly from June to August, meaning that by the time National Blueberry Popsicle Day arrives in early September, the season is drawing to a close and a frozen popsicle offers a final seasonal farewell.
How to Celebrate National Blueberry Popsicle Day
- Buy a blueberry popsicle – The simplest way to observe the day is to find a blueberry popsicle or ice lolly at your local supermarket or convenience store and enjoy it. Look for options made with real fruit for the fullest flavour.
- Make your own – Homemade blueberry popsicles are straightforward to make. Blend fresh or frozen blueberries with a little yoghurt, honey, and lemon juice, pour into popsicle moulds, insert sticks, and freeze overnight. The result is a treat with a cleaner, more natural flavour than most commercial versions.
- Share with friends and family – Popsicles are inherently sociable. Make a batch and share them as a late summer treat with the people around you.
- Try a blueberry sorbet or granita – If popsicle moulds are not available, a blueberry sorbet or granita achieves a similar effect with slightly less equipment.
- Post on social media – Share your blueberry popsicle with the relevant hashtags to join the wider community celebrating the day.
Noteworthy Facts About Blueberry Popsicles and Blueberries
- The United States produces more than 500 million kilograms of blueberries annually, making it one of the world’s top producers of the fruit.
- Frank Epperson’s original creation was patented in 1924 under the name “Epsicle”. The Popsicle name came later when he sold the rights to the Joe Lowe Company.
- Blueberries were not widely cultivated commercially until the twentieth century. Elizabeth White and botanist Frederick Coville developed the first commercially viable cultivated blueberry varieties in New Jersey in the early 1900s.
- The deep blue-purple colour of blueberries comes from anthocyanins, water-soluble plant pigments that act as antioxidants in the body.
- Frozen blueberry products retain most of the nutritional value of fresh blueberries, making a blueberry popsicle a relatively healthful frozen treat compared to many alternatives.
- September marks the beginning of the school year in many countries, making National Blueberry Popsicle Day a lighthearted note on which to start the autumn term.
Hashtags for National Blueberry Popsicle Day
- #NationalBlueberryPopsicleDay
- #BlueberryPopsicleDay
- #TeamBlueberryPopsicle
- #FrozenTreats
Featured image: Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash.
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