National Picnic Month

A book of verse beneath the bough,
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness –
Ah, wilderness were paradise enow!

Omar Khayyam

When the weather gets warmer and the rains of spring have abated, the outdoors are beckoning all those adventurous families who are out to have fun in the sun. Local parks have finally come out from under the pall of cloud gray skies, and picnics can begin in earnest!

Sausage rolls and Fried Chicken, Fresh Fruit and Lemonade, these are the hallmarks of a great meal out of doors. National Picnic Month encourages you to get out and celebrate the warm summer days and find your love and wonder of the outdoors again while enjoying some great food!

How to celebrate National Picnic Month

Picnic month is exceptionally easy to celebrate! You just have to get outside into the world and enjoy all the wonderful sights and smells it has to offer. Get your family and friends together at a favorite nearby park and bring your favorite foods that can be eaten cold for a traditional picnic, or bring a small grill and prepare warm delicious food on the spot!

History of National Picnic Month

Throughout the recorded history of civilization, there has always been something special about leaving the stuffy confines of your home and eating a meal outdoors. We know there’s a beautiful world out there waiting for us to come visit it, and when summer comes around we’re reminded just how much time we’ve been locked inside or being eager to come in from the cold. The word ‘picnic’ is thought to have first been used by Tony Willis in 1692, and from that point forward everyone from the working class to the upper crust have been fascinated with taking their repast outside under the sky.

Picnics have been used for many things throughout the centuries, from a simply family gathering spent enjoying the outdoors, to being used as a peaceful protest in the Pan-European Picnic, which was held on the Hungarian/Austrian border in 1989. The most notable, and largest, picnic ever held spanned 600 miles, crossing France from coast to coast and celebrated the millennium’s first Bastille Day in 2000. Such a diverse resume for such a simple concept, don’t you think? National Picnic Month celebrates the history of this activity and the way it has been used to bring families, countries, and all humanity together.