List of county days in the United Kingdom


County days in the United Kingdom are relatively recent observances, formed to celebrate the cultural heritage of a particular British county. County days may be selected to coincide with the observance of a Saint's Day that has local significance.
CountyDateFirst observedOrigin
Bedfordshire2015Date decided by a public vote organised by The Friends of Bedfordshire society
Black Country Day2012Date chosen as it is considered to be the date of the inception of the Newcomen engine, the first commercially successful engine.
Buckinghamshire2015Date selected to remember the founding of the Paralympic Movement at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near Aylesbury.
Cheshire2021Commemorates the reissuance of the Magna Carta of Chester in 1215.
Cornwall
Previously a local holiday, revived as part of Cornish nationalism movement
DevonSaint Petroc's Day
DorsetThe feast day of St Wite.
DurhamThe feast day of St Cuthbert.
Essex26 OctoberSt Cedd's Day
Hampshire2019The feast day of St Swithun. Designated by Hampshire County Council
Huntingdonshire2002Huntingdonshire Society
KentThe feast day of Augustine of Canterbury, first Archbishop of Canterbury
Lancashire1996Friends of Real Lancashire
Lincolnshire
2006Commemorates the Lincolnshire Rising of 1536
MiddlesexJohn Randall originated early day motion
Norfolk2018A project between BBC Radio Norfolk and the Eastern Daily Press.
Northamptonshire2014The feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, the patron saints of cobblers, date decided by a public vote
Northumberland2017A privately run day originally started by Catapult PR and Langley Castle Hotel, after consultation with a variety of key stakeholders and businesses. It is now run by Catapult PR and The County Day Company and has been hugely successful, scooping the national Chartered Institute of Public Relations Excellence Award for the Best Tourism PR Campaign in the UK, in May 2018, as well as other awards thus far. Northumberland Day in 2020 has become the first 'virtual' county day.
Nottinghamshire2021Anniversary of the start of the English Civil War, an event triggered by Charles I raising the royal standard at Nottingham Castle in 1642
OrkneyThe feast day of Saint Magnus
Oxfordshire
?Also called Saint Frideswide's Day.
ShetlandCelebrated in the Shetland Isles annually.
ShropshireThe feast day of St Milburga, the abbess of Wenlock Priory, Shropshire.
Staffordshire2016Date decided by a public vote organised by Destination Staffordshire
Suffolk2017
Sussex
2007The feast day of St Richard of Chichester, Sussex's patron saint
Recognised by county councils of East and West Sussex
Yorkshire
1975Yorkshire Ridings Society

The Association of British Counties has proposed the 23rd of April as county day for Warwickshire. The date was chosen as the birthday of William Shakespeare.
Proposals exist for various days in Somerset.
There is also a proposal to make the 29th of July Buckinghamshire Day. This date was chosen because of its importance to the founding of the Paralympic Games movement. The games grew from events held at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire for British World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries. The Memorial Mob, a Bucks-based group which creates Memorials to Lost & Forgotten events of the Armed & Emergency Services, felt it was appropriate to honour Buckinghamshire.