How to Celebrate National Ice Cream Day

11 ways to celebrate National Ice Cream Day rounds up creative ways to bring the day into your home or go out there and make the best of it!

National Ice Cream Day provides just the right excuse to down buckets of ice cream of all flavors and designs.

There’s just something about a cold ice cream cone on a boiling hot summer day that lands in the right spot.

When is National Ice Cream Day 2025?

The whole month of July is National Ice Cream Month with National Ice Cream Day designated for the third Sunday in July every year.

The joint resolution originating the celebration was signed into public law in 1984. Every year, the celebrations are publicized by ice cream manufacturers.

This year, National Ice Cream Day falls on Sunday, July 20. 

Interesting Fact – Did you know that back in the day, ice cream was only reserved for royals and rich folk until refrigeration was invented?

Today, you can make ice cream easily at home with only a few ingredients and the right machine.

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Is National Ice Cream Day a Holiday?

Unfortunately, National Ice Cream Day is not a holiday but no reason why you can’t play hookie from work to indulge in the day. We promise we won’t tell. :)

11 Ways to Celebrate National Ice Cream Day

Traditionally, ice cream is made from full-fat dairy but with so many alternative diets these days, you can find ice cream for almost every lifestyle – vegan, low carb, dairy-free, keto, lactose intolerant, gluten-free, etc.

National Ice Cream Day is a super fun day to celebrate and eat as much of your favorite ice cream treats as you want.

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1. Visit Your Local Ice Cream Parlors

Your first port of call on National Ice Cream Day should be your local ice cream parlors. They will have a lot of sales and freebies for ice cream lovers.

Don’t forget the roadside, independent, ice cream food trucks either. They also particpate in National Ice Cream Day.

If you want to order something to enjoy at home with your loved ones or that special someone, check out some amazing ice cream options below.

Ice creams ordered online are shipped with cold packs and styrofoam coolers to keep them intact during shipping so no worries about it melting before it gets to you:-

2. Alec’s Organic Honey Blueberry Lavender Ice Cream

Alec’s Organic Honey Blueberry Lavender Ice Cream claims, “The easy-breezy, velvety-vibrant flavor you never knew you needed—and now will not live without.”

Reviews here suggest this ice cream lives up to the claims. Also availale in Tahitain Vanilla Bean, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Matcha Chocolate Chip and more...

2. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream

Van Leeuwen origins trace back to a humble food truck but it has since grown to include a wide range of regular and vegan ice cream flavours.

Each batch of ice cream is blended with the best ingredients. Customer favorites include Premium Vanilla Bean French Ice Cream and Premium Honeycomb French Ice Cream.

3. eCreamery Personalized Gourmet Handcrafted Ice Cream

A pack of 4 gourmet ice creams available in chocolate cake with brownies & fudge swirls, s’mores, vanilla with chocolate chips and cookie dough, and cookies and cream.

Each pack can be personalized with a name and a simple message. Buy the gourmet handcrafted ice cream HERE.

4. LuvyDuvy Freeze-Dried Neapolitan Astronaut Ice Cream Sandwiches

This ice cream was originally designed for astronauts on early Apollo missions. The ice cream is freeze-dried and placed in a special poly foil pouch.

This 4-pack is chocolate/vanilla/strawberry flavored. Check out the astronaut Neapolitan sandwich HERE.

5.  McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream

McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams are made from scartch with grass-fed milk and cream. All ingredients are local, organic and sutainably sourced.

Customer favorites include Salted Caramel Chip and Honey & Cornbread Cookies.

6. DIY Ice Cream for National Ice Cream Day

Keen on making your own ice cream and testing out a variety of flavors, how about an ice cream maker and ice cream cookbook? Check out some awesome recommendations below:-

Aicok Ice Cream Maker, Frozen Yogurt and Sorbet Machine

Aicok ice cream maker has a 1.6 Qt capacity and can be used to make frozen yogurts and sorbets as well. The device comes with a 2-year guarantee. 

The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

This ice cream cookbooks features 200 recipes for ice creams, sorbets, gelatos, granitas, and sweet accompaniments. The cookbook is available in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover.

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream by Laura O’Neill, Benjamin Van Leeuwen, Peter Van Leeuwen, & Olga Massov

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream includes ice cream recipes for every season to suit many different tastes.

This ice cream cookbooks also highlights vegan and non-dairy ice cream techniques!

Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook by Tyler Malek and JJ Goode

Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook was named one of the best cookbooks of the season by Eater, Delish and Epicurious.

Following their recipes, you can recreate some of their best flavors at home including sea salt with caramel ribbons, roasted strawberry and toasted white chocolate, and buttered mashed potatoes and gravy!

Silikomart Silicone Mini Ice Cream Mold Set

And of course, you will need these super cute silicone ice cream molds for the ice cream design. Get this set in different colors HERE.

Cartoon Candy Color Ice Cream Bowls

Interesting Fact – Thomas Jefferson’s recipe for Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream seems to be the oldest recipe for ice cream in the USA and is currently preserved at Library of Congress.

If you want to try out Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream recipe, check out this breakdown from Taste of Home.

7. Ice Cream Party for National Ice Cream Day

Thinking of having an ice cream party? This super cool ice cream bar table sign will make your bar stand out instantly.

To make your ice cream bar even more amazing, go all out with this Ice Cream Bar Decor Kit, which includes pre-assembled items to set the tone for your ice cream bar.

National Ice Cream Day – Gifts and Accessories

Some ice cream themed gift ideas below for National Ice Cream Day celebrations or just any other occasion that requires ice cream really:-

8. CuisiPro Scoop and Stack

This scoop and stack device creates fun-shaped cones and bowls. It’s able to cut through even the toughest ice cream.

The ice cream scoop and stack are available in white and green as well. Check out the scoop and stack HERE.

9. Ceramic Dessert & Ice Cream Cone Set

Colorful ceramic cones set of 4 with dessert spoons included. Suitable for fruits and desserts as well. Buy the dessert and ice cream cone set HERE.

10. Stonewall Kitchen 4 Piece Dessert Topping Collection

No ice cream party is complete without some delicious varations of toppings and these collection from Stonewall Kitchen delivers on the flavor.

Includes bittersweet chocolate sauce, chocolate peanut butter sauce, dark chocolate sea salt caramel sauce, and sea salt caramel sauce. Place your order HERE.

11. Ice Cream Koozies

These amazing ice cream koozies are designed with non-slip neoprene with a 4 mm thickness that keeps your hands dry while it locks in ice cream coldness for longer.

The koozies come in 2 vivid colors and stretch to fit most pint size ice cream, , frozen yogurt, gelato and sorbet. See all the designs HERE.

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

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