Dolly Parton Day 2026: Why It’s Sept. 25 and How Fans Are Celebrating

• Dolly Parton Day falls on Sept. 25 because the date, written 9/25, reads as “9 to 5,” her 1980 hit.
• California made it an annual state day of recognition on Sept. 20; Nashville, San Francisco, New Orleans and Manhattan are marking it too.
• The main way to take part is giving to the Imagination Library, her free-book program, through the local partner that pays for books in your area.

Pink lights and “9 to 5.” Friday, Sept. 25, is the first Dolly Parton Day since Dolly Parton died on Aug. 25 at 80, and cities from Nashville to San Francisco are celebrating with music, a parade and book drives.

The date is a play on her biggest crossover hit. And as of this week, it is on the books in California for every year to come.

Why is Dolly Parton Day on Sept. 25?

Because 9/25, read out loud, is “9 to 5.” Parton wrote and sang the title song for 9 to 5, the 1980 office comedy she starred in with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. It became one of her signature hits and a working people’s anthem.

The timing adds weight this year. Sept. 25 falls one month to the day after her death, which her family announced in a video on Aug. 25.

Is Dolly Parton Day an official holiday?

In California, yes, as a day of recognition. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 931 on Sept. 20, making Sept. 25 Dolly Parton Day every year. The bill came from state Sens. Shannon Grove, a Bakersfield Republican, and John Laird, a Santa Cruz Democrat.

We are not just establishing a day to celebrate Dolly Parton, we are creating an annual reminder to us, every year, to live the way she did — joyfully, graciously, and with a whole lot of heart.

— Gov. Gavin Newsom, signing SB 931

Tennessee, her home state, already had a Dolly Parton Day, on a different date. Gov. Bill Lee proclaimed Jan. 19, 2026, her 80th birthday, as Dolly Parton Day. State Sen. Jessie Seal has proposed adding Sept. 25 as “9 to 5 Day,” and lawmakers are expected to take it up in January.

Local governments moved faster. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal declared Sept. 25 Dolly Parton Appreciation Day. Nashville, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Pittman Center in Tennessee joined in, along with Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; New Orleans; and Hays and Montgomery counties in Texas.

How can you celebrate Dolly Parton Day?

In Nashville, the city’s first “Dolly Day” runs all day. Buildings are lit pink, and at 5 p.m. participating music venues play live versions of “9 to 5.” It ends with a short fireworks show downtown at 9:25 p.m.

Proceeds from Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood‘s Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk go to the Nashville Public Library and the Imagination Library. The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum gives $9.25 per admission. A citywide drive, Give Like Dolly, takes donations through Sunday, Sept. 27.

Elsewhere, San Francisco has a daytime party with live music in Union Square. In New Orleans, the Krewe of Dolly parades through the French Quarter and ends at the Jazz Museum. The ask everywhere else is simple: wear pink.

On TODAY, Brandi Carlile said she got close to Parton when Parton agreed to join the all-female set Carlile curated at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival. Backstage, Carlile told her she was nervous. Parton, she said, took her face in her hands and prayed with her.

The hosts pointed out that Carlile’s first post about meeting Parton, backstage at a concert she bought a ticket to, went up on Sept. 25, 2016. “I didn’t know that,” she said on air.

How does Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library work?

Every enrolled child gets one free, age-appropriate book in the mail each month from birth to age 5. A child who signs up at birth gets 60 books. The family pays nothing, and there is no income test.

The money comes in two layers. A local program partner — a library, school district, United Way or state — pays for the books and postage, on average about $2.20 per child per month. The Dollywood Foundation covers the overhead: picking the books, printing, shipping logistics and the enrollment database.

That is why the program exists in some ZIP codes and not others, and why Dolly Day fundraisers point donors to their local partner. Families can check whether their address is covered, and enroll, on the Imagination Library’s website.

Parton started the program in 1995 in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up. In the video above, from 2023, she said she created it “as a tribute to my daddy,” who could not read.

“If you can read, you can teach yourself anything,” she said. The program has since mailed more than 330 million books in five countries.

How she died, and the fight over her business since, is in our story on her nephew Bryan Seaver and the restraining order. Her last recording, a duet with Bono, is in “Torn,” on U2’s new album.

Everything else is on our Dolly Parton page, including the wigs she made famous. More days worth marking are in Trending.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: Office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (SB 931, Sept. 20, 2026); Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s proclamation for Jan. 19, 2026, as reported by The Independent (Carsen Holaday); Brandi Carlile on TODAY (NBC), Sept. 25, 2026; Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (official video, July 2023, and program information). Local proclamations and events as reported by Good Morning America (Angeline Jane Bernabe), WSMV 4 Nashville (Caleb Wethington) and The Associated Press (Kimberlee Kruesi); Imagination Library funding model per the Dollywood Foundation and its state partners, and total books as reported by Good Morning America; Tennessee’s “9 to 5 Day” bill as reported by Good Morning America and Reader’s Digest. Photos: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (YouTube), the Academy of Country Music (51st ACM Awards, 2016) and TODAY.