Pink Flamingo Day, with its name, recalls these beautiful creations of nature – the exotic birds with their rare coloring. They well deserve their own holiday. But it did not appear because of the real birds!

History

In 1957, Don Featherstone worked for a plastics company. One day, he came up with a design for a plastic flamingo decor for backyard lawns in hot pink. Soon, the birds adorned all the nearby lawns. The idea took off – and Featherstone’s creations populated all the suburbs with private houses and lawns throughout the United States. As a result, they have become the same symbol of kitsch, just like garden gnomes. But kitsch is also a design style, and it has enough fans! Well, who bought bright pink birds to decorate their local area?

In 2006, Union Products, where Featherstone worked, decided to stop producing turf birds. In 2007, Dean Mazzaralla, who was the mayor of Leominster (Massachusetts), came up with a holiday – Pink Flamingo Day. In the same year, the Featherstone Birds were copyrighted by HMC International. In 2010, they were sold to Cado manufacturing, which decided to continue the production of such popular lawn ornaments ‘with a history’. Unfortunately, Don Featherstone did not live to see the pink flamingo holiday in 2015 – he passed away before then.

Many believe today Pink Flamingo Day can become a day of information about real flamingos, their natural habitat, habits, and history. A great ecological idea.

Interesting facts

Since 1957, people have bought millions of pink plastic flamingos.

How to take part

Pink Flamingo Day can be celebrated in different ways:

1. Buy a set of flamingos and decorate your yard. It is recommended to buy at least 4 birds (1 set includes 2 pieces). They live in flocks!
2. Share the holiday on social media.
3. Find a video with pink flamingos – it is a breathtakingly beautiful sight!

When is Pink Flamingo Day celebrated in 2022?

Pink Flamingo Day is observed on June 23 each year.

Observations