When is National Root Beer Float Day?

National Root Beer Float Day celebrates vanilla ice cream in a glass of root beer, and it falls every August 6.

Friday, August 6, 2027

in 282 days

The one after

Sunday, August 6, 2028

Every year

August 6 every year

Informal observance

National Root Beer Float Day celebrates a simple treat: vanilla ice cream in a glass of root beer. It falls on August 6 every year.

It is an informal observance listed by day-calendar sites and trade groups, not a proclaimed holiday. No law or proclamation names it, so you can mark it however you like, at home, at school, at work or with a group.

Informal observance. An informal observance, listed by day-calendar sites and trade groups. It is not a proclaimed holiday.

Simple ways to mark the day

Use the Scoop Planner to work out how much vanilla ice cream to buy for floats at a party, classroom or office break room.
Check the ice cream container size chart to pick between pints, quarts and larger tubs before you shop for a crowd.
Pick one disher size using the ice cream scoop size chart so every float gets the same amount of ice cream.
At home, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a tall glass and pour root beer over it slowly.

Plan it with these

Scoop size chart

Ice cream scoop sizes and the disher number chart

The number stamped on an ice cream scoop tells you how many level scoopfuls fill one quart, so a #8 holds 4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) and a #16 holds 2.
Scoop Planner

How much ice cream for a party

Enter your guests, servings and scoop size to see how much ice cream to buy, in containers and dollars.
Container size chart

Ice cream container sizes, from pint to 3 gallon tub

Ice cream container sizes used to be simple. Today the tub that looks like a half gallon often holds less.

Where the day comes from

National Root Beer Float Day is an informal observance listed by day-calendar sites and trade groups, not a proclaimed holiday. No law or proclamation names it. If you are wondering when is National Root Beer Float Day, the answer stays the same every year: August 6. It celebrates one of the simplest ice cream treats there is, vanilla ice cream in a glass of root beer.

Where the day began is not known. National Day Calendar lists it and says it could not identify who created it. So when someone asks who started National Root Beer Float Day, the honest answer is that nobody knows.

The drink itself has a clearer story, at least in one account. National Day Calendar credits Frank J. Wisner of Cripple Creek, Colorado, with creating it in August 1893, when it went by the name Black Cow. That is the calendar’s version, and we pass it along as theirs. The float is easy to make for one person or a whole room: a scoop or two of vanilla in a tall glass, root beer poured slowly over the top, and a spoon and a straw on the side.

Questions people ask

Is National Root Beer Float Day an official holiday?

No. It is an informal observance listed by day-calendar sites and trade groups, not a proclaimed holiday. No law or proclamation names it. That means schools, offices and families can mark it however they like, with no rules about how.