Sandwiched in between July 4th and Labor Day, there’s not much to celebrate in August – unless you’re a fan of good food and drink. Then it’s 31 days of eating, sipping, and slurping.
The month kicked off on August 1 with National IPA Day, with a nod to the growing popularity of India Pale Ales. Right behind it, there’s International Beer Day, the first Friday. Fun fact: Beer is the third-most-consumed beverage on the planet, surpassed only by water and tea.
We have days devoted to ice cream sandwiches, watermelon, and root beer floats. Ditto for banana splits and lemonade. That’s no surprise. In summer, we crave cool refreshment.
Iconic chef and author Julia Child was born on August 15th, so it’s fitting that we fête her then.
But some of the featured foods seem a bit random. Take National Oyster Day on August 5: Lots of people still avoid oysters in months without the letter “R.” And what’s up with National Bratwurst Day (16th) and National Potato Day (19th) this month? These hearty foods match up more with cold weather, not summer.
Do we really need a National Bacon Lover’s Day (20th) to honor the meat that pops up everywhere from breakfast to cocktails? (Side note: We’re still trying to confirm other bacon celebrations, rumored to take place in February or September.)
The catfish and panini lobbies must have chewed through a lot of red tape to get recognition: Each of these is lauded for the entire month of August.
Food blogger John-Bryan Hopkins of foodimentary.com gets the credit for shifting some long-standing food celebrations from trade-based traffic, driven by business interests, to recipe-rich explorations of intriguing dishes. A beautiful book titled Foodimentary: Celebrating 365 Food Holidays with Classic Recipes resulted, although other databases still operate.
By the time we roll around to National Trail Mix Day on the last day of the month, you may be thinking of cooking up a food holiday of your own. Don’t be daunted. You can develop a business plan or apply directly to nationalcalendarday.com, the brainchild of Marlo Anderson.
Be prepared to wait a while – there’s apparently a pretty big backlog of applicants. But just remember: August’s National Grab Some Nuts Day was just some food lover's dream, once upon a time.
Amy Rogers writes WFAEats, a fun adventure where we explore all things tasty and tackle the meatier side of the food scene in and around Charlotte.