Father’s Day is a celebration of fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence fathers have in society. It is celebrated on various dates around the world, and many countries observe different traditions. In the UK, it falls on the third Sunday each June.

When is Father’s Day this year?

In 2019, Father’s Day will fall on June 16 in the UK.

Mother’s Day has passed already, falling on Sunday, March 31.

What is the history of Father’s Day?

Father’s Day originated in Catholic Europe in the Middle Ages.

St Joseph’s Day – March 19 – was the original Father’s Day date and is still observed in some countries, including Spain.

In the 20th century, Father’s Day was taken to the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese when they colonised Latin America.

Some Latin American countries still observe the March 19 date, such as Honduras.

The tradition was adopted by the US to complement Mother’s Day and celebrate male parenting.

There were attempts to lock down a new date, but as an agreement could not be reached, the third Sunday of June was settled on.

Why are there different dates for Father’s Day in different countries?

Several countries, including the UK, Ireland, US, France, Netherlands, Cyprus, South Africa, Greece, and Japan celebrate Father’s Day in June every year, whilst others have an entirely different date.

Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia and Fiji instead hold Father’s Day in September, whilst Norway and Denmark celebrate the event in November.

In China Father’s Day is celebrated on August 8, due to the word for eight in Chinese being ‘ba’ and an informal term for father is ‘ba-ba’.

This then makes the eighth day of the eighth month sound like father.

Germany refers to Father’s Day as Mannertag (men’s day), and in some areas, it is tradition for men to go into the woods with a wagon of beer, meats and wine.

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