Dates
When is Father's Day in the UK?
The countdown aims at the next Father's Day. Below, the dates to 2035 and the gap from Mothering Sunday.
Father's Day, 2027
Sunday, 20 June 2027
Rule: third Sunday in June.
| 2026 | Sunday, 21 June 2026 |
| 2027 | Sunday, 20 June 2027 |
| 2028 | Sunday, 18 June 2028 |
| 2029 | Sunday, 17 June 2029 |
| 2030 | Sunday, 16 June 2030 |
| 2031 | Sunday, 15 June 2031 |
Next Father's Day
20 June 2027
Sunday,
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235 days from today (28 October 2026).
Counting from the day this page was built. Worked out on this device from your entries and its clock: nothing is sent, nothing is stored.
Add 2026 to 2035 to my calendarFather's Day in the UK is the third Sunday in June: Sunday, 20 June 2027 in 2027 and Sunday, 18 June 2028 in 2028; in 2026 it was Sunday, 21 June 2026. It always falls between 15 and 21 June. Unlike Mother's Day, which in the UK is the church festival of Mothering Sunday in Lent, Father's Day has no British religious origin. It came from the United States, where it was first celebrated in Spokane, Washington, in 1910, and became a permanent national observance in 1972, set by federal law on the third Sunday in June. The UK, Ireland, Canada and many other countries adopted the same date; Australia and New Zealand keep theirs in September. Because Father's Day does not depend on Easter, its date simply follows the weekday pattern of the year, so it is never more than six days away from the same date the year before. It is not a bank holiday, being a Sunday.
Father's Day and Mothering Sunday in one year
Father's Day
20 June 2027
| Mothering Sunday | 7 March 2027 |
| Weeks between them | 15 |
| Earliest possible date | 15 June |
| Latest possible date | 21 June |
Rules and dates checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Father's Day, 2026 to 2035
| Year | Date | Day | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 21 June 2026 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 15 March 2026 |
| 2027 | 20 June 2027 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 7 March 2027 |
| 2028 | 18 June 2028 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 26 March 2028 |
| 2029 | 17 June 2029 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 11 March 2029 |
| 2030 | 16 June 2030 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 31 March 2030 |
| 2031 | 15 June 2031 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 23 March 2031 |
| 2032 | 20 June 2032 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 7 March 2032 |
| 2033 | 19 June 2033 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 27 March 2033 |
| 2034 | 18 June 2034 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 19 March 2034 |
| 2035 | 17 June 2035 | Sunday | Mothering Sunday was 4 March 2035 |
How a third Sunday works
The first Sunday in June can fall on any date from 1 to 7 June, so the third Sunday falls from 15 to 21 June. The date moves back by one day each year, or two after a leap day, until it wraps round from 15 back to 21. That makes Father's Day easy to plan for: it is always in the middle of the month, two to four weeks after the spring bank holiday at the end of May, and always a few days before the longest day of the year, around 21 June.
From Spokane to the UK
The idea is usually credited to Sonora Smart Dodd, whose father raised six children alone; she organised the first celebration in Spokane in June 1910. It spread slowly. A US presidential proclamation in 1966 marked the third Sunday in June, and a law of 1972 made it permanent: the US Code, title 36, section 109 reads simply that the third Sunday in June is Father's Day. British shops and card makers took it up after the Second World War, and it became widely observed in the UK from the 1950s and 1960s.
Some churches mark the day in their services, but it is not part of the Church of England calendar, which is where Mothering Sunday comes from. That difference is why the two parents' days are so far apart in the British calendar.
Planning for the day
Father's Day weekend often coincides with major sporting events in June, and in 2026 it fell during the football World Cup. For gifts sent abroad, check the local date: fathers in Australia and New Zealand are celebrated in September, and in much of continental Europe on other dates, including St Joseph's Day, 19 March, in Spain, Italy and Portugal. The simulator under the summary puts Mothering Sunday and Father's Day side by side for any year, and the days until counter works for any other family date.
Because the date never depends on Easter, Father's Day sits in a predictable place in the summer. It always falls within a week before the summer solstice, around 21 June, so it is close to the longest evenings of the year, which suits a barbecue or a late walk.