Father's Day: festival from the United States

An annual day for fathers and fatherhood, kept in over a hundred countries on dates that differ from place to place. Its modern form began in the United States in 1910, while Catholic Europe had marked fatherhood on 19 March, Saint Joseph's Day, since the Middle Ages.

When is Father's Day kept?

Father's Day is kept on many different dates, among them 19 March in much of Catholic Europe and the third Sunday of June in many other countries.

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Father's Day is an annual observance that turns attention to fathers and to the work of raising children. It is kept in more than a hundred countries, but not on one shared date: each place fixes its own. Some mark it through church, some through family visits and gifts, and some through a temple ritual. The aim in every case is the same, to thank a father and to say what he has given.

What it is

Father's Day sets aside a date for fathers and for the part they play in family life. It is not one festival with one date. Governments, churches and families in more than a hundred countries have each settled on their own day, and the customs differ as much as the dates do. Some places treat it as a public holiday; most do not. In several countries the occasion sits beside days for mothers, and in some places beside days for grandparents, for children or for siblings. The purpose stays constant: to notice what a father does and to thank him for it.

Origins and history

Christian Europe gave the day its earliest shape. Catholics have kept 19 March, the feast of Saint Joseph, as a time to honour fathers for centuries, and a customary fatherhood celebration on that date is recorded from at least 1508. Saint Joseph is called the Nourisher of the Lord in Catholic writing. The Church backed the custom from the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century, it seems at Franciscan prompting, and Spanish and Portuguese settlers carried it to the Americas. Orthodox Christians instead keep the Sunday of the Forefathers, the second Sunday before Christmas. Coptic Christians mark fatherhood on 20 July, a practice that may reach back to the fifth century.

The modern American day

The American version grew from two attempts in the north-west. In 1908 Grace Golden Clayton asked for a day to remember the men killed in a mining accident; nothing came of it at the time. A year later Sonora Smart Dodd, who had been brought up by her father on his own along with her five brothers, heard a Mother's Day service in church and took up the cause. She won over her city's ministerial association in Spokane, and in 1910 the state of Washington held the first Father's Day. It spread gradually from there.

Dates around the world

Because each country sets its own day, the calendar looks scattered. Much of the world follows the American pattern of the third Sunday in June, among them Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Hong Kong and Macau. Other places chose differently. Mozambique keeps 19 March, Seychelles 16 June and Cambodia 15 June. Sudan and Syria mark 21 June, the summer solstice, and several Arab states share that date. Indonesia holds 12 November, South Korea 8 May and Mongolia 8 August. South Sudan takes the last Monday in August. Israel folds fatherhood into Family Day on 30 Shevat, and Iran uses the thirteenth of Rajab.

Kushe Aunsi in Nepal

Nepal keeps a different kind of day. Hindus and Newars honour fathers at Kushe Aunsi, also called Gokarna Aunsi, which falls on the new moon of the month of Bhadra, in late August or early September. Its Nepali nickname translates as a day for seeing your father's face. Children bow to their father, place a tika on his forehead and offer sweets and gifts; he answers with a blessing for good fortune. The same day is set aside for fathers who have died. Hindu families visit the Gokarneswor Mahadev temple at Gokarna, on the edge of Kathmandu, and Buddhists go to Jana Bahal in the city.

How Father's Day is kept

The day is kept in many different ways. In Nepal, children bow to their father, mark his forehead with a tika and give him sweets and gifts, and he blesses them in return; families also visit a temple to remember a father who has died. In India, grown children give presents such as cards, shirts, books or jewellery, and in Kerala and Nagaland churches hold prayers. Japanese families often choose sake, shochu, sweets, sports gear or clothing. South Koreans pin on carnations and honour both parents on 8 May.

When and where

There is no single date. Countries that copied the American model keep the third Sunday in June; Catholic Europe keeps 19 March, Saint Joseph's Day; the Coptic Church keeps 20 July, and Orthodox Christians keep the Sunday of the Forefathers, between 11 and 17 December. Nepal's Kushe Aunsi follows the lunar calendar and lands in late August or early September.

The day is kept in more than a hundred countries, with no single home. Its modern form began in the United States, in the state of Washington, and spread from there. It is a public holiday in Lithuania, in parts of Spain and in Samoa, and it was one in Italy until 1977. Catholic Europe and Nepal keep their own older versions.

What Father's Day means

At heart the day asks people to look at a relationship they often take for granted, the one with their father, and to say thank you while they still can. In Nepal that idea runs deeper, because the same ritual reaches back to fathers who have died. Korean observance joins the older Confucian value of filial piety, the respect and care owed to parents, to a modern public occasion. In Catholic countries the day rests on Saint Joseph, held up as a model of quiet fatherly care.

Questions people ask about Father's Day

When is Father's Day kept?

Father's Day is kept on many different dates, among them 19 March in much of Catholic Europe and the third Sunday of June in many other countries.

What is Father's Day?

A day for fathers and for fatherhood, kept in more than a hundred countries. Each country chooses its own date and its own customs, so there is no single worldwide festival. Some places treat it as a public holiday, but in most it is a family occasion rather than an official one.

How did it start?

Catholics in Europe were honouring fathers on 19 March well before the modern day existed, with records going back to at least 1508. The American version began separately: in 1910 the state of Washington held the first one, after Sonora Smart Dodd took up the idea.

Is it the same as Mother's Day?

It follows a similar pattern and often sits near a mother's day in the calendar, but the two are separate observances with separate dates in most places. Some countries go further and keep days for grandparents, children or siblings as well.

What do people give?

Customs differ. Cards, flowers and small presents are common. In Nepal a father receives a tika, sweets and gifts, and gives a blessing in return. Japanese families often choose sake, shochu, sweets, sports gear or clothing.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Father's Day", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryParampara rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.

Father's Day

When is Father's Day kept?

What it is

Origins and history

The modern American day

Dates around the world

Kushe Aunsi in Nepal

How Father's Day is kept

When and where

What Father's Day means

Questions people ask about Father's Day

See also

Good reading and sources

More from the United States

The same idea elsewhere

Photo credits on this page

The weekly EveryParampara