The 23rd of June is Father’s Day in Nicaragua, as it has been every year since 1960.
However, it wasn’t until more than 50 years had passed that the date became formerly acknowledged when it was written into law.
The idea of having a Father’s Day in Nicaragua has always been attributed to a group of retail businesses who began promoting the date as a sales and marketing promotion for the sale of men’s products from their stores. The date became very popular and has always been accepted as the official Father’s Day.
In fact, in the preamble to the law that was submitted by René Núñez Téllez (then the President of the National Assembly) he referred to that very commercial promotion as the first celebration of June 23rd as Father’s Day.
He said; “On June 5th 1960, La Prensa published a story on the front page announcing that Nicaraguan fathers would finally have a special day. The article does not indicate who was promoting the celebration and the date, however commercial advertisements began on June 16th promoting the date”.
You may recall a recent article on Mother’s Day in Nicaragua and the often repeated story of its origin which required the Academy of Geography and History of Nicaragua to step in and have the last word on that folklore.
In his preamble, Téllez refers to that statement from the Academy and says; “Mother’s Day had its origin in social groups that promoted its celebration as a form of mother worship and social expression. The origin of Father’s Day in Nicaragua was a commercial motivation”.
It wasn’t until the following year, on October 2nd, 2012 that Law No. 811 officially marked every June 23rd as Father’s Day in Nicaragua.
Around the World
Father’s Day is celebrated around the world on various days and in different ways. For example in the USA it is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. Canada and the United Kingdom use the same formula for the date, as do about 90 other countries. Poland is the only other country in the world that shares the fixed date of June 23rd with Nicaragua.
