The most important day of the year: Waffle Day

Graphic by Isabelle Wang

Each March, seasonal depression starts to kick in. The cold months of regular rain descend upon us, and winter seemingly never ends. The time before spring begins is often filled with mundane school work, bitter cold and long waits  for finals and AP testing to begin.

The silver lining in this otherwise unilaterally horrible time of year? Waffle Day on March 25. Waffle Day is simply the best day of the year, as waffles become a guilt-free food for one day.

In all seriousness, Waffle Day is not another meaningless holiday created by Hallmark or the Waffle industry (“Big Waffle”), but it has deep roots in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish cultures. 

As with most other holidays, Waffle Day has roots in Christian holidays. The holiday started as the Christian holiday, the Feast of Annunciation, which celebrates the “coming of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary and announcing to her that she is to be the mother of the Savior.”

The path from this religious holiday to our now beloved Waffle Day is quite humorous: The feast of the Annunciation in Swedish is Vårfrudagen, which sounds remarkably similar to våffeldagen (“waffle day”). Eventually, Swedes began calling it Waffle Day and celebrated it by eating waffles. 

The holiday soon spread to other European countries, particularly the Nordics.

While this history is interesting, the magic of this holiday lies in what it celebrates — waffles. For us, the milestone that is Waffle Day 2024 will be celebrated with making a vast multitude of waffles, lots of syrup and stuffing our faces. 

Waffles are simply one of the best breakfast foods of the modern era. The ideal, versatile breakfast can be filled or topped with fruits and sweets, along with a pillowy soft waffle with a golden crust. Don’t forget to spend your March 25 celebrating with a cheeky waffle, and a smile. Here is our go-to Waffle Recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-waffles