Key dates and celebrations to inspire hospitality bookings, footfall and sales in 2025
Having a well-prepared hospitality events and promotions calendar for 2025 can help you plan ahead and keep your venue busy. By targeting the right moments, you can ensure your venue stays relevant, no matter the season.
So, which dates do you need to be aware of?
Here’s a glimpse of some essential dates you’ll want to include in your social media publishing calendar to drive engagement and maximise results in 2025:
January
Be prepared for the usual focus on health-drives at the start of the year. Loads of people now embrace Dry January so make it easy for them to buy non-alcoholic drinks like mocktails and alcohol-free beers, wines and spirits. There’s also a focus on Veganuary, which is becoming more popular. Highlight plant-based dishes and create limited edition new ones to unlock a new customer demographic. Chinese New Year is Wednesday 29 January – a perfect chance for oriental cuisine promotions.
February
Valentine’s Day is obviously a key focus, and with this year’s falling on a Friday, it’s a good idea to stretch your promotions and offers over the weekend to try to prolong the uplift. Another key event could be Half Term if your venue caters for families. If it doesn’t, it may be worth changing tack from Monday, February 17 to Friday, February 21 – especially during the weekdays.
February also sees the start of the Six Nations Rugby which can drive major weekend traffic. This can be great for drinks sales, but can also drive demand for food, especially if combined with offers.
March
This month sees the final two weekends of the Six Nations Rugby (8-9 March & 15 March) whilst Football offers the Carabao Cup Final on Sunday 25 March giving plenty of opportunity to focus on drinks sales. Mothering Sunday, on 30 March, is a key event for special occasion food sales for pubs, restaurants, takeaways and hotels.
National days for Wales (St David’s Day, 1 March) and Ireland (St Patrick's Day, 17 March) represent superb promotional uplift opportunities.
April
Easter Weekend (18–21 April) gives a potential boost for family bookings with relevant promotions on your platforms. Think egg hunts or easter themed desserts to keep all ages engaged and excited. The two weeks preceding will also be school holidays (in most areas), offering more opportunities for family-focused promotions.
St George’s Day is hugely underutilised (especially in England!) and offers a great opportunity for pubs and restaurants to focus on traditional drinks and menus.
May
As well as giving us two Bank Holidays (Monday 5 and 26), May provides a number of key football events; the FA Cup Final (17 May), the EFL Play Offs (Finals Saturday 24 – Monday 26) end the of the Premier League season (Sunday 25) and the Champions League Final (Saturday 31 May) offering plenty of opportunities for drinks and food promotions and the opportunity to take advantage of the (hopefully) better weather. Also worth noting is British Sandwich Week (19-25 May)
June, July, August
As the weather gets warmer it’s an ideal chance to introduce outdoor bars, events or barbecues. It’s also Festival time, giving venues with screens (especially outdoors) the prospect of screening events like Glastonbury. Sport offers Wimbledon, The Epsom Derby meeting, perfect for afternoon teas. There are also opportunities to embrace new/niche markets by supporting celebration days with offers such as Armed Forces Day or the more ‘left-field International Left-Handers Day.
September
September sees the start of the Women’s Rugby World Cup (8 September): There is an extended opportunity here for themed content and events through the competition, which runs until 26 October. There is also a partial solar eclipse (Sunday 21) which could potentially offer some additional footfall if the weather plays ball as it coincides with National Hospitality Day Celebrate with exclusive offers, like a discount on your signature dish, or free hand-held solar viewers to really connect with your customers.
October
Diwali (21 October): Cultural holidays give your brand the opportunity to showcase your different offerings and connect with diverse audiences.
Autumn Half-Term (a week from 20–31 October, depending on your locality): Go all out with Halloween-themed menus or events to capture the spooky spirit. Clock’s going back also offers Night clubs and Late Bars the opportunity to extend offerings.
November
It’s easy to remember, remember the fifth of November as Bonfire Night for your events this month, but there’s also a plethora of other opportunities to boost footfall as the nights draw in. World Vegan Day (1 Nov), National Cappuccino Day (8 Nov), National Espresso Day (23 Nov) and Black Friday (28 Nov) all provide perfect excuses to tempt customers in. Sunday 30 November is also St Andrew’s Day, so if you have Scottish locations, connections, staff, dishes or drinks, this is the time to shout it from the roof tops.
December events
Whilst Christmas is obviously the driving force behind most December footfall, it can be boosted with other events such as Cyber Monday (1 Dec – chance to offer online discount codes?) National Brownie Day (8 Dec) and National Pastry Day (9 Dec).
How to get your staffing right for key events
If you are going for a specific time-limited promotion or event-led offer, make sure you have:
- Briefed your staff in advance, so they know the offer and can explain it to customers
- Have at least one key up-sell offer in place if you are discounting (preferably 2 or 3)
- Ensure you have enough staff on the ground to cope with any increase in demand without service dropping off (for key events, this will need plenty of advance planning).
