Marketing calendar 2026 and 2027: the dates you should be planning around
This marketing calendar lists the 102 dates between August 2026 and July 2027 that UK and US marketing, PR and content teams actually plan around: retail peaks, public holidays, awareness days with real audience attention, and seasonal moments. Every date has a one-line reason it matters and a link to planning notes.
How to use this marketing calendar
Most "marketing holidays" lists are hundreds of dates long and nobody plans around them. This one is deliberately short. Each month has between six and fourteen dates: the seasonal marketing calendar (Easter, summer, back to school, Christmas), the promotional calendar retailers actually trade on (Prime Day, Black Friday, Boxing Day), the awareness days with genuine audience attention, and a handful of social moments that reliably travel. Dates marked as tentpoles are the ones to brief eight to twelve weeks out.
Filter by channel to build a campaign calendar for social, email, PR or internal comms, or by region if you only trade in the UK or the US. Every date links to its own page with planning notes. If you want the lighter, shareable days as well, see the social media holidays by month. For every awareness day (1,900 and counting) in a spreadsheet and calendar feed, that is the Awareness Days Toolkit.
The next 12 tentpole marketing dates
The dates that should already be on your campaign calendar, in date order.
Marketing calendar 2026 and 2027 month by month
August 2026
1 dateAugust is holiday season and back-to-school. Family, travel and outdoor content performs, then the retail focus flips to stationery, uniforms and routines in the last two weeks. Plan Q4 now.
September 2026
7 datesSeptember is the new term for everyone, not just students. New-season retail, autumn launches and the first Christmas planning meetings. Black Friday creative should be briefed by the end of the month.
October 2026
10 datesOctober is Halloween, Breast Cancer Awareness Month and World Mental Health Day. Halloween content runs all month for retail and food, and Q4 email calendars fill up fast.
November 2026
13 datesNovember is the commercial peak: Bonfire Night, Singles' Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday in four weeks. Everything else competes with deals for attention.
December 2026
10 datesDecember is Christmas from day one. Advent, gifting guides, Giving Tuesday and party season, then Boxing Day sales and year-in-review content. Most brands go quiet between Christmas and New Year.
January 2027
8 datesJanuary is planning month. Audiences are resolution-minded and inboxes are quieter than December, so fresh-start content, sales and "what is coming this year" pieces land well. Veganuary and Dry January give food, drink and wellbeing brands a whole month of hooks.
February 2027
9 datesFebruary is short and busy: Valentine's Day is the retail anchor, pancake day and half term give UK brands lighter moments, and the Super Bowl dominates US attention. Brief Mother's Day creative now.
March 2027
12 datesMarch brings the first big gifting moment in the UK (Mother's Day), International Women's Day for purpose-led content, and the run-up to Easter. Spring launches and "new season" messaging start here.
April 2027
7 datesApril is Easter, Earth Day and the start of the outdoor season. Sustainability claims get scrutinised, so Earth Day only works with something real to report. Payday promotions and spring sales fill the rest of the month.
May 2027
11 datesMay has two long weekends in the UK, Mother's Day in the US, Mental Health Awareness Week and Eurovision. It is the month to lock summer campaigns and Father's Day gifting.
June 2027
10 datesJune is Pride Month, Father's Day and the start of summer events. Pride content needs year-round credibility to land. Retailers begin early summer sales and back-to-school planning starts for September.
July 2027
4 datesJuly is summer at full stretch: Prime Day pulls the whole retail market into deals mode, Wimbledon and festivals give hospitality and lifestyle brands their moments, and social feeds go lighter and more visual.
Marketing calendar 2027: first-look key dates
The 2027 tentpoles already confirmed, so next year's campaign calendar can start now. More dates are added as organisers confirm them.
- 1 Jan Dry January 2027
- 1 Jan Veganuary 2027
- 1 Jan New Years Day 2027
- 18 Jan Blue Monday 2027
- 1 Feb LGBT History Month 2027
- 6 Feb Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year)
- 9 Feb Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day 2027
- 14 Feb Valentine’s Day 2027
- 14 Feb Super Bowl 2027
- 4 Mar World Book Day 2027
- 7 Mar Mothers Day UK 2027 (Mothering Sunday)
- 8 Mar International Women’s Day 2027
- 17 Mar St Patricks Day 2027
- 28 Mar Easter Sunday 2027
- 22 Apr International Mother Earth Day 2027
- 9 May Mother’s Day 2027 US
- 1 Jun Pride Month 2027
- 5 Jun World Environment Day 2027
- 20 Jun Father’s Day UK
- 4 Jul Independence Day 2027
- 17 Jul World Emoji Day 2027
How marketing teams use this calendar
Campaign calendar
Pick two or three dates a month, never more. Tentpoles get a campaign; everything else gets a post, an email line or a PR angle. Brief creative eight to twelve weeks before a tentpole.
Social media scheduling
Filter by Social, drop the dates into your scheduler four weeks out, then use the social media holidays list for the lighter days in between.
Email marketing calendar
Filter by Email to see the sends that matter: gifting peaks, sale weekends and seasonal moments. Lock subject lines the week before each.
PR and press hooks
Tie announcements to dates journalists are already writing about. Sustainability news on Earth Day, workplace news in Mental Health Awareness Week, research in the January planning lull.
Retail and promotional calendar
The promotional calendar is the retail subset: Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day, January sales, bank holiday weekends. Brief paid media and design first.
Internal comms
Filter by Internal comms for the awareness weeks and cultural dates that structure wellbeing and inclusion programmes, and the days that need a respectful acknowledgement rather than a promotion.
Get this calendar in your own tools
The free template gives you every date on this page in Excel, Google Sheets, PDF and iCal. The Awareness Days Toolkit gives you every awareness day and key date for the whole year: a 14-tab spreadsheet, seven printable PDF calendars and a calendar feed that updates itself.
Frequently asked questions
What is a marketing calendar?
A marketing calendar is the list of dates a marketing team plans content and campaigns around: public holidays, retail peaks, seasonal moments, awareness days and cultural events. The point is to publish when audiences are already paying attention, and to brief creative early enough to do it well. This page is that list for UK and US teams, kept to the dates that matter.
What is the difference between a marketing calendar and a content calendar?
A marketing calendar is the list of external dates worth planning around. A content calendar is your own publishing schedule, built from it: which post, email or campaign goes out on which day, and who owns it. Use this page to choose the dates, then the free template to turn them into a content calendar.
What are the biggest marketing dates?
For most consumer brands the tentpoles are Valentine's Day, Mother's Day (March in the UK, May in the US), Easter, Father's Day, Prime Day, back to school, Halloween, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Christmas and Boxing Day. For purpose-led brands add International Women's Day, Earth Day, Pride Month and World Mental Health Day. Each is marked as a tentpole above.
Can I download the marketing calendar?
Yes. "Save as PDF" prints this page. The free marketing calendar template gives you the same dates in Excel, Google Sheets, a one-page PDF, CSV and an iCal file you can add to Google Calendar or Outlook. For every awareness day (1,900+) with monthly tabs and a live feed, see the Awareness Days Toolkit.
Does it cover UK and US marketing dates?
Yes. Dates that only apply in one country are marked UK or US, and the region filter narrows the list. Dates with no flag apply to both.
When does next year's marketing calendar appear?
This page always shows the next twelve months, so next year's dates start appearing as soon as they are confirmed, and from October you will see a first look at next year's tentpoles. The URL never changes, so bookmark it once.