Let’s face it… some holidays are to be taken very seriously, and some – well not so much.

It’s National Dance Like a Chicken Day, which takes place, believe it or not, every May 14, encouraging everyone to dance like a chicken! Now THAT should be taken seriously – with people flapping their arms and strutting chicken-like.

Everyone has probably danced the “Chicken Dance” at least once in their lifetime. This silly fun song is popular at wedding dances, Oktoberfest, and other celebrations, too, and is known for getting people of all ages up and moving on the dance floor, to just about anywhere.

Written in the 1950s by Werner Thomas, a Swiss accordionist, the Chicken Dance didn’t even make it to the United States until sometime in the 1970s. The Chicken Dance is associated with polkas or oom-pah-pah music. Originally written with the name Der Ententanz (The Duck Dance), rumors suggest the song was written as a drinking song for Oktoberfest. The song’s title later changed to Vogeltanz (The Bird Dance).

Upon arriving in America in the 1970s, the song acquired choreography with repetitive beak, wing, and tail motions, as well as the new name, The Chicken Dance.

Chicken Dance Facts

• Cincinnati, Ohio, September 20, 2004 – At the Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, rock musician Vince Neil served as Grand Marshall at the World’s Largest Chicken Dance.
• Judson Laipply’s Evolution of Dance featured “The Chicken Dance.”
• November 13, 2009 – In support of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, CIHT-FM played “The Chicken Dance” continuously until they sold 389 tickets at $100 each for the CHEO Dream of a Lifetime. They played for over 3 hours straight.
• April 23, 2010 – Jake’s Restaurant in Byron Center, Michigan, hosted a fundraiser for Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital that attempted the World’s Largest Chicken Dance record. The restaurant is the site of a giant plastic chicken sculpture.
• July 4, 2010 – Mandan, North Dakota established a new World Record for the Longest Chicken Dance at their annual Independence Day Parade and Street Festival.
The Mandan, ND “Chicken Dance” line covered twenty-four city blocks and was 1.627 miles long.

So how do we celebrate National Dance Like a Chicken Day. Be silly. Be erratic. Do The Chicken Dance. Organize a Chicken Dance dance-off.

When you do, serve chicken nuggets and chicken fries, fried chicken, and chicken-fried steak. Teach someone The Chicken Dance, too, because everyone should know how to participate. Since you’ll never know when dancing like a chicken will come in handy!

Source: National Day Calendar