National Cooler Day

National Cooler Day celebrates the humble cooler as a summer essential for keeping food and beverages cold during outdoor activities. It arrives on the Friday before Memorial Day, helping kick off the holiday weekend and the summer season.

Coolers do more than hold drinks. They can serve as spare seats, prep stations, and umbrella anchors, while also helping with food transport during power outages, sporting events, fundraisers, and parades. The first cooler, or “portable ice box,” appeared in the 1950s, after the insulating material needed to make modern coolers became available in 1944.

RTIC Outdoors founded National Cooler Day in 2019 to recognize the ways coolers make getting away, helping out, and celebrating easier. That same year, the Registrar at National Day Calendar proclaimed it an annual observance on the Friday before Memorial Day.

How to Observe National Cooler Day

Celebrate by finding your cooler and getting it ready for the season. Fill it with ice, cold drinks, and food, then enjoy a picnic or another outdoor activity with friends or family. You can also share your celebration using #NationalCoolerDay.

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