10 "Holidays" to Celebrate in March

From Peanut Butter Lover's Day to Tolkien Reading Day, there's a holiday for everyone in March.





10 "Holidays" to Celebrate in March



If getting pinched for not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day isn’t your idea of a good time, there are plenty of other ways to celebrate this month. March offers a number of alternative holidays, ranging from the frivolous to the serious. Here are 10 of them.

March 1: National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy peanut butter. Whether creamy or chunky, organic or otherwise, this spreadable delight is as versatile as they come — what else can you have as part of breakfast (toast), lunch (PB&J), and dessert (cookies)? If you count yourself among the world’s peanut butter lovers, stand tall on this special day and eat as much of it as you possibly can. You certainly won’t be alone, as Americans spent $2.3 billion on peanut butter in 2019 alone.

March 3: World Wildlife Day

Since 2013, when it was first ratified by the United Nations General Assembly, World Wildlife Day has served as an important reminder of the beauty — and fragility — of animals and plants across the globe. This year's theme is "Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation." There are plenty of ways to get involved, from donating or attending a virtual event to simply taking a walk through the woods and appreciating it for the small marvel it is.

March 4: National Grammar Day

While there’s no shame in mixing up “your” and “you’re” on occasion, there’s no time like National Grammar Day to brush up on the grammatical rules that elude you — and even learn some new ones. Proper use of everything from semicolons and em dashes to modifiers and the subjunctive can make writing more enjoyable, but it’s also a constant learning process. There are more than a million words in the English language and countless rules (and exceptions) to go along with them, so all of us have something to learn.

March 3-4: National Day of Unplugging

At sundown on the first Friday of March, the 24-hour National Day of Unplugging begins. It’s a chance for anyone feeling overwhelmed by all the screens, push notifications, and news alerts that make up daily life to step back from it all and live the way we did in the not-too-distant past. If your personal or professional obligations make the full sundown-to-sundown experience impossible, fret not — even unplugging for a few hours can feel like a breath of fresh air.

March 8: International Women’s Day

At current rates, the global gender pay gap won't be closed until 2276. And while this estimate and the myriad other statistics that necessitate International Women's Day aren't especially cheerful, the fact that action is being taken to address them is a welcome first step. Dating back to 1911, IWD is an occasion to celebrate the progress that’s been made and be mindful of all the hard work that remains to be done.

March 10: Mario Day

It’s-a March 10, which means it’s time to celebrate everyone’s favorite fictional plumber. Nintendo’s Mario has been inspiring people to pick up the controller since first appearing in 1981’s Donkey Kong, and though not all of his outings have been classics — that live-action movie wasn’t exactly a high point — he, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser are clearly here to stay. Whether it’s playing Mario Kart for the first time in a while or donning your finest pair of blue overalls, there’s no wrong way to celebrate Mario’s legacy.

March 14: Pi Day

How many digits of π do you have memorized? If the answer is more than three, you’re already ahead of the curve. Even so, Pi Day is a great excuse to dust off your math skills and learn a few digits beyond 3.14. Perhaps the most famous mathematical constant, it’s defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter and has been used for thousands of years. by both ancient civilizations including the Babylonians and Egyptians and modern-day mathematicians. The current record for most digits of pi memorized is 111,700, which Akira Haraguchi achieved in 2006 — a feat that took him more than 16 hours to recite in public. If anything approaching that sounds intimidating, feel free to eat some pie and call it a day.

March 20: International Day of Happiness

While we should strive for happiness every day, there's nothing wrong with setting aside one day just for that pursuit. International Day of Happiness has been providing just such an opportunity since 2013, which was two years after the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing happiness as a fundamental human goal. Even more so than most special occasions, this one really should be celebrated in whatever way you see fit — happiness means something different to each of us, after all.

March 25: Tolkien Reading Day

If you love the Lord of the Rings movies but feel guilty about never having read the books, use Tolkien Reading Day as an excuse to finally visit Middle-earth as its author originally envisioned it. The English writer and philologist published dozens of other books, many of them posthumously, so there’s no reason to stop once you've finished The Return of the King — your options include the encyclopedic Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, and The Fall of Arthur, among many others.

March 29: World Piano Day

There are 88 keys on a piano, which is why World Piano Day takes place on the 88th day of the year; since 2021 isn't a leap year, that means it once again falls on March 29th. Take some time to listen to all-timers like Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (officially known as Piano Sonata No. 14), Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies, or Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23. Or, if you’re feeling especially bold, mark an item off the bucket list by finally starting lessons — the world can always use more music.