World Goth Day: When is it, who started it and why?

Unlike a lot of the days on the Weird Holidays & Observances page, World Goth Day’s origins aren’t as mysterious as some of the others. In fact, it’s one of the few days that we know who started it and why.

So, without further ado, let’s look at how a day that celebrates all things Goth came to exist.

When is World Goth Day?

World Goth Day is observed every year on May 22.

When did World Goth Day start?

It all started in the United Kingdom in May 2009.

Which is sort of fitting because it was UK fans of gothic rock who created Goth subculture to begin with in the 1980s.

Who started it?

According to National Day Calendar,  each day for a week in May 2009, a pair of DJs, Cruel Britannia and Martin Oldgoth, discussed different music subcultures on BBC Radio 6.

Calendarr reported that Britannia and Oldgoth were playing Goth music on May 22 and unofficially declared it Goth Day. However, they were on to something. It was an instantly popular idea, not just in the U.K. but elsewhere too. It quickly morphed into World Goth Day.

What are Goths like?

Many people associate Goths with evil, devil worship, and satanism —and also mistakenly believe it’s its own religion. While some Goths do embrace satanism, not all do. Goths, just like every other kind of people, practice all sorts of faiths, from pagan to Christian, Jewish to Hindu. Being Goth in and of itself does not mean you subscribe to Goth as a religion.

Also, just because Goths prefer to dress in black and are fond of dark, mysterious and macabre things in general, that doesn’t mean they’re bad either. Sunshine and rainbows don’t appeal to everyone all the time. In some cases, they don’t appeal to some any of the time.

Think the Addams Family. Morticia favored dead roses and Wednesday…well, the Christina Ricci version of Wednesday does have a bit of a psychopathic side so she might not be the best example for the point I’m trying to make. However, the Wednesday in the original comic strip was very sweet, intelligent, and liked poetry.

Even though Goths may look scary or intimidating to some, and are naturally drawn to dark things that normally scare people, they’re actually pretty romantic, idealistic folks at heart. They believe in fairness, inclusion and are often some of the kindest, most creative people you’d ever hope to meet.

Beyond the Music: Do we all have a little Goth in us?

I’d actually argue that we all have a little Goth in us, whether we look like the stereotypical Goth or not. Well, anybody who’s reading this post does at least. Because clearly, something beckoned to the dark side within you and attracted you here.

I appreciate certain aspects of the Goth culture, even though to look at me you’d never know it. I like some of the music, especially from the 80s, but I don’t dress in Goth fashion. (Normally. I do have a few key garments that I break out for special occasions, though.)

In fact, I wouldn’t call myself Goth at all, and when a neighbor did this past February I quickly corrected her.

It happened when I’d posted pictures of Smalls and Skellie on NextDoor enjoying the snow we’d gotten in Nashville with the description: “This is what happens when you have too much time on your hands and skeletons in your closet.” (We were homebound for a week thanks to ice-packed roads.)

This one of Small’s Snow Day is my favorite:

To my surprise, the photos were a big hit on NextDoor and a couple of them even made the local news! But it was the neighbor who private messaged me and said, “I’m so glad to see there’s another Goth in the area,” who really caught me off guard.

I instantly wrote back, “Oh, I don’t think I could really qualify as a Goth. But I sure DO love my skeletons and Halloween is my favorite time of year!”

She replied, “You have a bunch of skeletons, a coffin float, and you recognize Halloween isn’t a day but a season. You’ve definitely got a little Goth in you.”

How to Know if You Have Goth in You

Well, some people know without a doubt. They live the lifestyle from head to toe like my friend Emerian Rich, the horror hostess of HorrorAddicts.net.

However, maybe you’re more like me. On the outside, you could pass as a regular, boring everyday person. However, if you like any of the following, you have a little Goth in you too:

• Reading Gothic literature like The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Jane Eyre, or Wuthering Heights.
• Watching Gothic movies and TV shows like ones adapted from any of the gothic literature mentioned above or Dark Shadows, Penny Dreadful, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, or Edward Scissorhands.
• Jaunting to Gothic places like Disney’s Haunted Mansion, or places where dark creators lived, like Charles Addams’ hometown, Westfield, New Jersey (which hosts AddamsFest every October), the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, Massachusettes, or the Edgar Allen Poe House and Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

3 Fun Facts About Goths

1. The first wave of Goth music was born in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

In their “History of Goth Rock,” the Underground noted that Bauhaus is “widely regarded as one of the founding bands of the goth music movement” and it all started with their 1979 single “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.”

Other bands who pioneered the movement include the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Sisters of Mercy.

2. There are different types of Goths.

My Fashion Galore identified at least 10 different types of Goths, including:

1. Traditional Goth – a.k.a. the original goths.
2. Romantic Goth – they favor Gothic Victorian clothing and often compliment the standard black with other colors like red or purple.
3. Pastel Goth – this is a new trend that combines pastel colors (think light pink hair) with other Gothic fashion.
4. Hippie Goth – you’ll see this subcategory tuned into different religions and sporting various occult and pagan symbols.
5. Vampire Goth – it’s all about dark hair, pale skin, and fangs.
6. Cyber Goth – they venture into more futuristic territory and sport things like spiked respirators. (This style brings Mad Max: Fury Road to my mind.)
7. Bubble Goth – this is another newer trend created by Estonian pop singer, Kerli Koiv, who embraces a lot of white instead of black but combines the “dark vs light” theme to create “spooky beautiful” ensembles.
8. Tribal Goth – this trend sprang up when belly dancing became popular and blends that with traditional goth.
9. Gothic Lolita – a Japanese musician called Mana popularized this style of girlish, yet dark, clothing, hair and makeup.
10. Casual Goth – these are basically traditional goths without as much of the edge and a bit more laid back style. (It reminds me of Ally Sheedy’s character in The Breakfast Club.)

But there are even more, like Pagan Goths (which are often the same as Hippie Goths), Haute Goths, Soft Goths, Rockabilly Goths, etc.

3. A town in England holds a bi-annual Goth Weekend.

The Whitby Goth Weekend started in 1994, five years before the first unofficial Goth Day. It’s a music festival that normally takes place twice a year in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. At least it did before COVID-19. The first part was canceled again for 2021, but according to the Whitby Goth Weekend website, they’re hoping to proceed with the Halloween event.

The first part is usually held sometime in April and the second part is held either in late September, sometimes in October, or early November. If the second part does happen for 2021, it will be October 29-31, 2021.

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Did you know there were so many different types of Goths?