National Pie Day vs. Pi Day – Here’s the Difference

While there’s a “food holiday” for just about everything you love to eat, it turns out there are actually two separate days every year when people come together to celebrate pie: National Pie Day on January 23 and Pi Day on March 14. As you can imagine, it’s easy to confuse the two occasions when there’s, say, free pie and pizza involved, but here’s a quick breakdown of what makes them different.   Now would be a great time to grab a generous slice of apple pie (and maybe some ice cream on top) before we dig into what makes each date special. Learning makes you hungry, right?

 

When Is National Pie Day?

National Pie Day is observed on January 23.

 

What Is National Pie Day?

This year,  National Pie Day falls on a Thursday, which may or may not be the excuse you need to enjoy a slice or two on an otherwise ordinary weekday. In any case, you can thank Charlie Papazian, an American nuclear engineer, craft beer brewer, and author, who is credited with creating the food holiday in the 1970s after he declared his birthday to be National Pie Day. Really, he just up and proclaimed the date as a national celebration of pie. The American Pie Council, of which Jason Biggs is thankfully not a member, has sponsored the holiday since 1986.

 

“January 23rd is National Pie Day, a time to celebrate the day with pie,” the council states on its website. “… We are encouraging pie lovers everywhere to host pie parties across the country. Whether it be with your friends, family, or co-workers, share some pie on January 23rd.”  Of course, every day can be “pie day” if you try hard enough, but some restaurants — mostly local restaurants and regional chains — end up marking the date with free pie, discounts on pie, and other pie promotions.

 

When Is Pi Day?

Pi Day is observed on March 14.

 

What Is Pi Day?

Get ready for a flashback to middle school math class.  First and foremost, Pi Day is a celebration of the mathematical constant, π (pi), or 3.14159265359. As you can see, the date is literally the first three major numbers, when you write March 14 in a numerical format, like 3/14. That’s right: Pi Day is about math, but thankfully, someone made it fun with pies. Best of all, a lot of people tend to celebrate the occasion with pizza, too, which arguably makes Pi Day better than National Pie Day.  But why quibble?  The point of both is, you get to eat PIE.

 

The annual celebration of numbers and food is relatively new. Larry Shaw is credited with holding the earliest known large-scale celebration of Pi Day in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium, where he worked as a physicist. The public joined museum staff for a march around the building’s circular spaces, then gathered to eat a bunch of pies, according to a report by Newsweek. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to officially recognize Pi Day in 2009, although then-Congressman and current Vice President Mike Pence and nine other Republicans voted against the measure. Today, Shaw is known as the Prince of Pi, largely thanks to his brilliant idea to make math more fun with dessert.  Pi Day celebrations typically involve more pie than math. In fact, Pi Day is when major restaurant chains — both pie purveyors and pizza joints — and other retailers roll out the best pie and pizza deals.

 

Perhaps the greatest way to observe both Pie Day and Pi Day is to bake — then eat — a pie with the pi sign baked into the upper layer of crust or lattice. You can also create the pi sign with pepperoni on top of a pizza. Or since Pi Day only happens once a year, you can go wild and make both.  How you celebrate National Pie Day and Pi Day is up to you. As always, celebrate responsibly.

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Photo Credit:  Nelli Syrotynska / Shutterstock.com