Friendship Day 2027

When is Friendship Day?

Friendship Day is on the first Sunday of August, so the date moves each year. In 2027 it falls on Sunday 1 August. The table above shows the dates for 2027 to 2029.

Several friendship days are easily confused:

• First Sunday of August: Friendship Day in the United States (National Friendship Day), India and much of South Asia. This page.
• 30 July: the International Day of Friendship, declared by the United Nations in 2011 and marked in the UK and many other countries.
• 8 June: National Best Friends Day, for the closest friend in your life.

How to celebrate Friendship Day

• Reach out to an old friend: a short call or message can reopen a friendship that simply drifted because life got busy.
• Write a card or letter: share a specific memory and tell them why they matter to you.
• Make a friendship band: weaving your own adds a personal touch a shop-bought gift can’t match.
• Share a meal or plan a get-together: a lunch, picnic or games night brings friends into the same room.
• Make a new friend: use the day as a nudge to join a club, community group or class.
• Post a tribute online: a photo or message thanking a friend publicly can brighten their whole day.
• Check in on someone who may be isolated: a neighbour, colleague or relative who lives alone. For some people a single message makes a real difference.

Friendship Day in India

Although the idea started in the United States, it found its biggest audience in South and Southeast Asia. In the 1990s it was reinvented in a youthful, school-age form: instead of greeting cards, young people began tying woven friendship bands around each other’s wrists as a sign of loyalty and affection. The simple, inexpensive gesture caught on quickly in schools and colleges.

Popular culture helped fix the date in India. Hindi cinema, and in particular the much-loved 1998 film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, romanticised friendship and made the first Sunday of August the day to honour close friends. Today it is marked nationwide, from big cities to small towns, and is supported by retailers, mobile networks and social media.

Traditions in India include:

• Tying friendship bands: a colourful woven band or bracelet tied around a friend’s wrist, often worn for weeks afterwards.
• Exchanging gifts and cards: small presents, handwritten notes and cards, echoing the day’s card-giving roots.
• Sharing messages online: tributes, throwback photos and posts tagging the friends who matter most.
• Group outings: meals, cinema trips or simply time together.
• School and college events: informal gatherings, games and activities for students.

Why Friendship Day matters

Friendship is not a luxury: it is a measurable factor in how long and how well we live. A review of 148 studies covering more than 300,000 people found that those with stronger social relationships had a 50% greater likelihood of survival over the study periods than those with weaker ties (Holt-Lunstad and others, PLOS Medicine, 2010). Loneliness has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, which makes looking after friendships a genuine contribution to wellbeing.

Friendship Day is a prompt to push back against busy schedules: pick up the phone, send a message or make a plan rather than letting the relationships that sustain us drift.

Facts about Friendship Day

• The day is widely credited to Joyce Hall, founder of Hallmark Cards, who promoted it in 1930.
• The United States Congress recognised the first Sunday of August as National Friendship Day in 1935.
• In India the friendship band, rather than the greeting card, became the defining symbol of the day.
• The United Nations International Day of Friendship, on 30 July since 2011, is a separate day.

History of Friendship Day

The idea is usually credited to Joyce Hall, founder of Hallmark Cards, who promoted a day in early August in 1930 for people to celebrate their friends, often by sending a card. Critics dismissed it as a commercial invention, but in 1935 the United States Congress recognised the first Sunday of August as National Friendship Day.

The celebration then spread well beyond the United States, above all to India and South Asia, where it became a youth tradition from the 1990s. In 2011 the United Nations General Assembly declared 30 July the International Day of Friendship, a separate observance that promotes friendship between peoples, cultures and countries.

Related awareness days

• International Day of Friendship: the United Nations day on 30 July.
• National Best Friends Day: a June day for the closest friends in our lives.
• Filipino-American Friendship Day: the ties between the Philippines and the United States.
• International Peace and Love Day: kindness, compassion and goodwill between people.

Sources

• United Nations: International Day of Friendship
• Holt-Lunstad, Smith and Layton (2010), Social Relationships and Mortality Risk, PLOS Medicine

Last reviewed: 28 September 2026. Merged with our Friendship Day in India page; dates checked for 2027 to 2029.