When is Grandparents Day?

Grandparents Day is celebrated in both the UK and the US, but on different dates and in different months, so it is easy to miss. The next one is coming up in 2026, so here are the dates you need. Last checked: August 2026.

Grandparents Day 2026 and 2027 dates at a glance

When is Grandparents Day in the US?

In the United States, National Grandparents Day falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day, which places it in mid September. In 2026 it is Sunday 13 September 2026, and in 2027 it is Sunday 12 September 2027.

When is Grandparents Day in the UK?

In the UK, National Grandparents Day is the first Sunday of October, so it lands a few weeks after the US date. In 2026 it is Sunday 4 October 2026, and in 2027 it is Sunday 3 October 2027.

See every family date together on our key family dates page.

Grandparents Day dates for the next ten years

The US date is the first Sunday after Labor Day, and the UK date is the first Sunday of October, so the two move a little each year but stay a few weeks apart. Here are both for the next ten years.

Where Grandparents Day comes from

National Grandparents Day in the US was the work of Marian McQuade, a West Virginia woman who wanted to honour older people and encourage families to visit them rather than leave them forgotten. Her campaign led President Jimmy Carter to sign it into law in 1978, setting it on the first Sunday after Labor Day. The UK's Grandparents Day, on the first Sunday of October, is more recent and less formal, which is why the two fall in different months.

If your family spans both countries, note the two are almost a month apart. Add whichever date applies to you to your calendar now, before autumn slips by. If you want ideas for the day, our guide to questions to ask your grandparents is a lovely start, and you can see how HeartTold works in a short demo.

Making the day mean something more

A card is kind and a bunch of flowers is welcome, but Grandparents Day is really about the people themselves, and about time, which is the one thing none of us can add more of. The most precious thing a grandparent carries is a lifetime of stories: where the family came from, what the world was like when they were young, the love and the losses, the small ordinary days that turned out to matter most. Too often those stories are told once and then lost.

This is the whole reason we built HeartTold. It is a way to keep your grandparent's stories and their voice, gathered patiently over time and kept for the whole family. One of our friendly, patient agents calls them each week, asks about their life in questions they love to answer, and keeps their replies in their own voice inside a private family archive that grows every week, alongside photos the family adds.

The stories your grandparents tell once, kept in their own voice, for the people who come after.

There is no app for them to learn and nothing to set up on their end. It is just a phone call, the thing they know best. You can arrange it in minutes and give it as a gift for Grandparents Day this year. Everything stays private, and is never used to train AI models.

If you want this Grandparents Day to be the one that keeps their stories for good, you can give HeartTold as a gift today.

Related guides: questions to ask your grandparents, gifts for grandparents, and life story prompts.