Wombat Day October 22
Day of the Wombat
As long as there are wombats, chocolate, and wine gums, there'll always be a Wombat Day. The nineteenth annual Wombat Day will be on Sunday, October 22, 2023. You can also visit the official Wombat Day Facebook Page.
You don't need to be a wombat or know a wombat to enjoy the fun on October 22. You can follow the traditional Wombat Day rituals and have a Wombat Day Cake, Wombat Fudge, or Wombat Brownies, or you can make up your own. It doesn't really matter, as long as you eat chocolate and celebrate the wombat!
History
In the Autumn of 2005, the Grand Wombat Council, under the wise leadership of President Wombat, realized that the world needed a special day to commemorate the often overlooked Australian wombat.
October 22nd was chosen since the ancient Wombat Spring planting celebrations were traditionally held around this time of year. The first modern incarnation of Wombat Day was observed on October 22, 2005. Wombat Day is alternatively known as "Hug a Wombie Day" and "Wombats of the World Unite Day."
Wombat Day Cake
It has come to our attention that a wombat-shaped cake pan is difficult to find outside of Wombania. Therefore, instructions on how to make a wombat cake, including a pattern, are now available on our Wombat Day Cake page. You can see some of the wombat cakes others have made on the wombat cakes page.
Traditions
Wombat Day is typically celebrated with lots of chocolate and Wine Gums. For those unfortunate individuals who live in areas where Wine Gums are difficult to obtain, gummy candies, gum drops, or Swedish fish can be substituted. (Being of British origins, Wine Gums can often be found in shops that sell British or imported foods.)
Often a chocolate cake or fudge in the shape of a wombat is the centerpiece of an evening party in which wombat songs are sung, and wombat stories and folk tales are told. After the stories, Wombat wishes are then wished. In some areas, the secret wombat dance is also performed.
Afterwards, the wombat cake or fudge is divided among the guests, and large quantities of Wine Gums and chocolate treats are consumed. As tradition would have it, the entire wombat cake must be consumed in order for the wombat wishes to come true. Sparklers and fireworks rockets usually end the festivities. Some people also like to make drawings or painting for the celebration, and you can see some of their art on the Wombat Day Art page.
Celebrations
In 2009, Chris Mabe created a Wombat Day Event page on Facebook. Over 600 people signed up to celebrate the glorious wombat. Many more people the world over celebrated on October 22, 2009, making the fifth annual Wombat Day the biggest one ever.
In 2007, Wombat Day was celebrated in style by the people at Candy Yum Yum.
If you have pictures of your wombat cake or Wombat Day celebrations that you'd like to share, email them to us at
Graphics
In honour of Wombat Day, we've created a few graphics that you can print out and affix to any calendar that is lacking the proper Wombat Day designation.
Click on the preview pictures below to see the full-sized picture. The full-sized image is 2 inches square at 300 dpi (it will appear much larger on your screen since it's displayed at 72-96 dpi).
Save the graphic you want to your computer, then open it in the program of your choice and re-size the image to whatever size is needed for your calendar. Print it out on a address label or a plain piece of paper. Cut it to size, and stick or glue it (a glue stick works well) to the calendar of your choice. Wombat Day labels can also be stuck on fridges, walls, cars, pets, kids, bosses, or anything else that needs to be reminded of the importance of Wombat Day. (Common wombat picture courtesy of Womland.)
Click on the pictures below to get the full-sized image: