National Taco Day Makes its Move
by David Klemt
I call this a good start.
I don’t know how to break this to you, so I’m just going to say it: National Taco Day, one of the world’s most important holidays, has made a big move.
For the past 15 years, National Taco Day has been celebrated on October 4. That means that since its inception, the annual holiday that celebrates the taco has only fallen on a Taco Tuesday three times.
In fact, it didn’t even fall on Taco Tuesday until its third year, in 2011. National Taco Day didn’t repeat the feat again until 2016, and then 2022. Had the date remained the same in perpetuity, we wouldn’t get another National Taco Day on a Taco Tuesday until 2028 at the earliest.
Starting this year—in a week and a half, in fact—National Taco Day will fall on the first Tuesday in October.
I’m going to share my thought process after I first found out about this news.
How did I learn about this massive change? Via a post by Smirnoff. You see, National Taco Day and National Vodka Day have been linked since they each first launched in 2009.
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It seems that Smirnoff is none too pleased with this news, though they’ll reunite with National Taco Day in 2028.
My first reaction was “I can’t believe this is news,” for a few seconds. That evolved into “I can’t believe this took so long to resolve” rather quickly.
And then I told the KRG Hospitality team about this news.
Finally!
I’ve always thought “Why isn’t National Taco Day always on a Taco Tuesday?” when the holiday has come around.
Finally, someone has acted to rectify this oversight; Taco Bell appealed to National Day Calendar to change the date. It may seem to trivial for a fast-food giant (or anyone else, for that matter) to petition to have a holiday’s date changed when it isn’t a legal holiday.
However, according to a Taco Bell press release addressing this National Taco Day news, it’s rare that National Day Calendar makes such a change. The release goes on to quote Marlo Anderson, the founder of National Day Calendar, which launched in 2013.
“For years, we’ve celebrated National Taco Day on October 4th, but it’s always felt like there was a bigger opportunity to align it with something even more special—Taco Tuesday,” said Anderson.
Interestingly, another fast food chain is credited with creating National Taco Day: Del Taco. Keeping the trivia going, “National” reportedly doesn’t actually pertain to any one country; it’s just what the holiday is called.
While this news is certainly another win for Taco Bell and their, well, obsession with Taco Tuesday (understandable, of course), it’s a win for everyone who loves tacos.
Operators need to pull out all the stops for October 1, the first of the newly revised National Taco Day celebrations. Task your kitchen team with creating LTO tacos, crafting a super-premium version of your signature taco if you have one, and ensuring there are vegetarian- and vegan-friendly options to appeal to every single taco-loving guest.
Let’s go all out!
Image: Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash
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