Groundhog Day 2025: When is Groundhog Day 2025 & 2026?

Below you can find dates of Groundhog Day 2025 and Groundhog Day 2026. In the table you can check how many days you have been on holiday, which week is the holiday and which day of the month.

When is ..? Date Day of the week Week Number Day left
Groundhog Day 2024 February 02, 2024 Friday 05 Passed
Groundhog Day 2025 February 02, 2025 Sunday 05 321
Groundhog Day 2026 February 02, 2026 Monday 06 686
Groundhog Day 2027 February 02, 2027 Tuesday 05 1051
Groundhog Day 2028 February 02, 2028 Wednesday 05 1416
Groundhog Day 2029 February 02, 2029 Friday 05 1782
Groundhog Day 2030 February 02, 2030 Saturday 05 2147
Groundhog Day 2031 February 02, 2031 Sunday 05 2512
Groundhog Day 2032 February 02, 2032 Monday 06 2877
Groundhog Day 2033 February 02, 2033 Wednesday 05 3243
Groundhog Day 2034 February 02, 2034 Thursday 05 3608

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2. According to folklore, if groundhog Punxsutawney Phil comes out of his stump on the stage at Gobbler’s Knob and can see its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If it cannot see its shadow, spring is around the corner. Although Groundhog Day is not a public holiday, it is a popular observance in many parts of the United States. Some states have their own groundhogs by following the same rituel, the official groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, lives at Gobbler’s Knob near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The town has attracted thousands of visitors over the years to experience various Groundhog Day events and activities on February 2.

Groundhog Day is part of the ancient Candlemas Day tradition, where history has been celebrated in winter and celebrating the mummies to be distributed. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be. The Germans extended this concept by choosing another animal, hedgehog, to predict the weather. Once they came to America, German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they exchanged the hedgehogs to groundhogs, as these animals are plenty in the Keystone State. In 1887, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club announced that Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America's single true weather forecaster.

 

Groundhog Day Background

Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the United States in the 1800s. The first official observance to Gobbler's Knob was made on February 2, 1887. It is said that Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) was named after King Phillip. He was called Br'er Groundhog prior to being known as Phil.

In Europe many years ago, people watched for other hibernating animals, including badgers, bears, and hedgehogs, as signs of winter's end. Germans who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s began keeping observe the groundhog. The widespread population of rodents has become useful for this particular superstition.

Punxsutawney Phil lives in a climate-controlled habitat neighboring the Punxsutawney Library. A local celebrity, he gained national fame in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. The weather-watching rodent's predictions are recorded in the Congressional Records of the National Archive. Phil has seen his shadow about 85% of the time so far. Canada has the same tradition, as well. Canada's Groundhog Day observes their own predictions of an albino groundhog named Wiarton Willie. Although Punxsutawney Phil is the most famous one, some other US cities have their own special groundhogs. For example, New York City's official groundhog is called "Pothole Pete."

 

Groundhog Day Celebrations

In the 1880s some friends in Punxsutawney, Penn., went into the woods on Candlemas Day to look for groundhogs. This outing became a tradition, and a local newspaper editor nicknamed the seekers "the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club." Starting in 1887 the search became an official event centered on a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil. This ceremony still takes place every year. Club members, news reporters, locals, and visitors meet at Gobbler’s Knob on February 2 each year to await Phil’s appearance and his weather prediction.

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club plays an important role in organizing Groundhog Day. Pennsylvania’s governor also attends Groundhog Day ceremonies. Many weather researchers try to explain the groundhog’s accuracy in predicting the weather and collect the “data”.

Groundhog Day is an observance but it is not a public holiday in the United States. However, areas around parks and some streets may be busy or congested in towns, such as Punxsutawney, where Groundhog Day events are getting more popular each year.

You may look for local festivities happening in your city in the Groundhog Day. Some cities in North America have their own Groundhog Day celebrations. Depending on the town, they have a parade, festival, or some live shows celebrating Groundhog Day. Contact your city government to find out about Groundhog Day festivities for times and locations to attend them.

If you want to experience something new in the Groundhog Day, you can check out a groundhog lodge festival. Groundhog lodges are clubs in Pennsylvania that preserve German immigrant culture. Dozens of groundhog lodges celebrate Groundhog Day with food, games, and songs. You may look for a lodge festival closest to you, and join in on their celebrations.

Besides watching Phil leave his burrow, Punxsutawney also hosts an entire weekend of festivities. In the morning, town locals gather together for an annual breakfast. A celebration tent in the center of town organizes fun activities, like a cornhole tournament and top hat decorating contest. Then, in the evening, you can join the Groundhog Ball at the local country club.

 

Groundhog Day Customs and Traditions

Observing Punxsutawney Phil emerging from his burrow is often broadcasted on TV. Punxsutawney has observed the holiday officially since 1886. This most famous groundhog actually lives at Gobbler’s Knob, a park just outside of Punxsutawney.

In Quarryville, PA, citizens at the Slumbering Lodge combine Groundhog Day festivities with Fersommling, an event that includes food, drinks and speeches. Only the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect can be spoken, and speakers of any other language are fined. This celebration includes Punxsutawney’s rival, Octoraro Orphie, whose followers claim is more reliable and also less concerned with fame.

Merges with German or Dutch culture. Many Groundhog Day celebrations are centered on a celebration of German or Dutch culture, since the day’s origins come from German folklore. Although the groundhog’s prediction is not necessarily taken seriously, still approximately 40,000 people attend the Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania each February 2nd.

Reading up on Groundhog Day history would be a good idea for celebration this magical day. Whether you research alone or with friends, learn about the origins of Groundhog Day. In German culture, people believed that hedgehogs could predict winter if it saw its shadow. When some Germans came to Pennsylvania, they brought this tradition with them but switched it from hedgehogs to groundhogs. The first recognized Groundhog Day celebration was February 2, 1887, when the town of Punxsutawney dubbed their groundhog Phil America's weather-forecasting animal.

Going on a nature walk is another suggestion to do for celebration Groundhog Day. If groundhogs are native to your environment, go on a hike or trail walk and look for groundhogs. Go with a group and make a game out of who can spot the most groundhogs. If you can't see any, enjoy the fresh air and see if there really will be six more weeks of winter.

If groundhogs aren't native to your area, you may visit your local zoo too see them.

 

Groundhog Day Facts

 

  • The movie “Groundhog Day” from 1993, starring comedian Bill Murray, made Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania famous worldwide. The film's plot added new meaning to the term “Groundhog Day” as something that repeats itself endlessly.

 

  • Groundhog Day, spurred by German immigrants of the 18th and 19th centuries who brought groundhog traditions with them to America, gave birth to “Punxsutawney Phil” and the array of groundhog-related events that fill lodges and streets in Pennsylvania in the first days of February each year.

 

  • It’s an event that takes place in Earth’s orbit around the sun, as we move between the solstices and equinoxes. In other words, Groundhog Day falls more or less midway between the December solstice and the March equinox. Each cross-quarter day is actually a collection of dates, and various traditions celebrate various holidays at this time. February 2 is the year’s first cross-quarter day.

 

  • Punxsutawney Phil is the official groundhog forecaster on February 2, but many states have their own (like New York’s Pothole Pete).

 

  • Phil’s full name, granted by the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, is Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.

 

  • Loyal fans swear that there is only one Phil and that he's been making weather predictions since 1886. But since groundhogs only live up to six years, we're not so sure about that one.

 

  • Although groundhogs typically weigh between 12 and 15 pounds, Punxsutawney Phil is 22 pounds.

 

  • Groundhogs only live six to eight years, but folklore suggests that Phil sips a magical drink that gives him seven more years of life.

 

  • The National Climatic Data Center compared U.S. national temperatures from 1988 to 2012 to determine the accuracy of Phil's predictions, and he's only been proven correct 39% of the time.

 

Groundhog Day Symbols

 

  • Other countries have similar spring forecast customs including Serbia (Sretenje), Germany (Siebenschlafertag), United Kingdom (St. Swithun's Day) and Alaska (Marmot Day).

 

  • Punxsutawney Phil lives in a climate-controlled habitat that is attached to the Punxsutawney Library. Wiarton Willie lives in an almost the same habitat in Wiarton.

 

  • Wiarton Willie is an albino (white) groundhog.

 

  • Groundhogs are members of the squirrel family and are the largest of all marmots. They can climb trees and can swim very well. They eat plants and grass and are herbivores.

 

  • New York City has its own groundhog named ‘Pothole Pete'.

 

  • Punxsutawney Phil's weather predictions have been accurate approximately 39% of the time since 1887. He sees his shadow about 85% of the time.

 

  • Punxsutawney Phil has a ridiculously long official name. His full moniker is "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary."

 

 

Check out the Groundhog Day in the following years.