Father's Day: When is Father's Day 2022, and why do we celebrate Father's Day in the UK?

We’re almost halfway through the year and that means that Father’s Day is just around the corner in the UK. Celebrated since just after the end of the Second World War, Father’s Day doesn’t have as long a tradition as Mother’s Day, but is still observed faithfully by people around the world.

It’s a day to celebrate fathers, grandfathers, and paternal figures of all kinds. Many people observe the day by giving cards and gifts to their fathers, as we do on Mother’s Day. Here’s when it falls in 2022 and how the day first began to be celebrated.

Why do we celebrate Father's Day in the UK?

The UK started celebrating Father’s Day after President Richard Nixon officially signed the day into law in the United States in 1972. Other countries around the world celebrate Father’s Day at different times of the year, but the UK and the US share the date.

The first record of the day being celebrated, however, is as early as 1908, when Grace Clayton organised the first Father’s Day after losing her own father in a mining incident.

Two years later, a more widespread Father’s Day was inspired by the success of Mother’s Day, with celebrations taking place across churches in Spokane, Washington organised by Sonora Dodd.

Woodrow Wilson was the first American President to acknowledge Father’s Day in 2016, and Lyndon Johnson officially designated it a national holiday in 1966, six years before Nixon signed it into law.

Early celebrations of similar days date all the way back to the Middle Ages in some cultures, with the Catholic Church’s Feast of St Joseph – the legal father of Jesus Christ – still being observed on March 19th in countries like Spain and Italy.

When is Father's Day 2022?

In the UK, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year. In 2022, it will fall on June 19th. There is no bank holiday for Father’s Day, as it is always celebrated on a Sunday.