What’s the Deal With Celebrating Half Birthdays?

We’re not sure if you’ve heard, but half birthdays are a thing. Not just a mark-your-calendar thing for adults to keep track of time or a tell-your-friends thing kids use to grab attention at recess, but something actually celebrated with parties, custom gifts, and themed food. 

While half holidays are already popular among certain groups — the Gaelic fest of Imbolc on Feb. 1 denotes the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox, and is a huge day for astrology fans; Leon Day, which falls on June 25, the halfway point on the calendar between Jan. 1 and Christmas, is big among Santa superfans (“Noel” spelled backwards is “Leon”...get it?) — half birthdays are experiencing an upsurge with young adults. 

A recent Wall Street Journal article (subscription may be required) tells of twenty- and thirty-somethings throwing dance parties, staging themed picnics, and even planning half birthday vacations. Dealey says full-grown adults are joining in as well, mentioning that “Jimmy Kimmel celebrated Snoop Dogg’s half birthday on his show, and told viewers it’s a big thing within the Kimmel family.” 

To get the whole story, we connected with Erin Dealey, author of The Half Birthday Book, a guide to celebrating this imaginative (but not imaginary) homemade holiday.

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The importance of celebrating half birthdays

Half birthday celebrations are thought to have originated in response to the awkward timing of some actual birthdays, primarily among young people. For example, birthdays that fall on major holidays tend to get overshadowed by society-wide excitement, which can be a real downer for a kid. And while teachers are often known to celebrate their students’ birthdays in class, kids who were born in the summer miss out on their special day in the classroom by default. Also, friends and family might be out of town this time of year. 

Dealey says that good old-fashioned familial love is also a common motivator for celebrating half birthdays, and something that can extend the celebrations beyond childhood. 

“Grandparents and parents — first timers especially — love celebrating a child’s half birthday, and then it becomes a tradition,” she says. “I had someone tell me that her kids had holiday birthdays when they were little and she’s going to use the ideas in my book to celebrate her son’s 40-and-a-half birthday this year!”  

Planning a half birthday party

As far as half birthday parties go, Dealey emphasizes that those doing the planning need not feel obliged to go all out, and that for a halfway get-together, creativity should always come before cost. Many celebrants choose to hold off on substantial presents until the individual’s “real” birthday comes around, though Dealey says modest, imaginative gifting is a great means of enhancing the celebratory atmosphere. 

“For adults, try giving someone a half-dozen roses, or buy them a half cup of coffee — bonus points for a half latte with half-and-half. And here’s a fun fact: There’s a shrub found in coastal areas called the half-flower (nanåsu). Wouldn’t that make a perfect half birthday bouquet?” (It would, except that the flower's located in Guam, which a trip there would make for a wonderful gift, anytime!)

Children’s gifts can follow suit. A favorite smoothie could be substituted for a highly caffeinated cup of joe, and a selection of gummy rings might be given in place of actual jewelry.

Decorating just half the party space is a strong trend, and, Dealey says, “dressing half right and half wrong, as in wearing two different shoes with mismatched socks” is a popular look among guests at these almost occasions. This can be taken to any extreme, such as serving pizza without the cheese while wearing pajama bottoms and a tuxedo top. Perhaps hand out only the top of cupcakes, in swimming trunks and a winter parka — or spend half the event wearing each type of attire!

Half birthday party ideas

Popular half birthday party activities include playing half of any game and baking half a cake. And when it comes to that old standby group sing-along, Dealey suggests making one small tweak that kids love: “Sing every other word, or syllable, to the tune of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song: ‘Hap___ half____day ____ you!’ and so on.” 

For half birthdays in the classroom, some sly teachers, she notes, have taken to using the occasion to introduce the concept of fractions to young minds.

Half birthdays, which essentially began as a way to comfort disappointed kids, is unrelated to a half birthday’s true purpose: providing a reason to pause our busy lives, take a breather, and bond with friends and family. Even if it lasts just half the time of a full-on shindig, a half birthday party can serve as a gift to all those in attendance.