{"id":611870,"date":"2026-09-26T00:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T00:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/611870\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T00:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T00:00:09","slug":"dolly-parton-day-declared-in-various-cities-and-states-across-the-us-on-9-25-dolly-parton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/611870\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton Day declared in various cities and states across the US on 9\/25 | Dolly Parton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cities and states across the country are declaring 25 September Dolly Parton<\/a> Day, month after the Queen of Country died at age 80.<\/p>\n

The date, 9\/25, is a tribute to Parton<\/a>\u2019s popular single, 9 to 5.<\/p>\n

California<\/a> and Ohio<\/a> have officially declared the date Dolly Parton Day, while communities nationwide are planning tributes from parades and pink lights to karaoke and live music performances.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s governor, Gavin Newsom, signed legislation last week establishing<\/a> 25 September as Dolly Parton Day in the state every year. The bill was sponsored by state senators Shannon Grove and John Laird.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could all afford to live a little more like Dolly,\u201d Newsom said in a statement. \u201cBe kind, be humble and have some fun \u2026 Be a diamond in a rhinestone world. With this bill, we are not just establishing a day to celebrate Dolly Parton, we are creating an annual reminder to us, every year, to live the way she did \u2013 joyfully, graciously and with a whole lot of heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christy Oakes and Beth Sloan of Kentucky pose with a mural of Dolly Parton in Nashville. Photograph: George Walker IV\/AP<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles<\/a> county library will be hosting a Dolly Parton Day event at several locations: Dolly Day: Smarty Pants Storytime, which will include songs, rhymes and movement along with teaching school-readiness skills. Parton was a big advocate for encouraging young people to read, and her juvenile literacy charity, the Imagination Library, provided millions of books for children around the world.<\/p>\n

In Ohio, the governor, Mike DeWine, and the lieutenant governor, Jim Tressel, signed a proclamation<\/a> earlier this month recognizing Dolly Parton Day. Unlike California\u2019s law, Ohio\u2019s proclamation applies only to 2026.<\/p>\n

New York and Pennsylvania<\/a> lawmakers are considering similar measures. New York\u2019s bill remained in a senate committee, while Pennsylvania\u2019s legislation had been referred to a house committee.<\/p>\n

Some of the largest celebrations are taking place in Nashville<\/a>, where Parton had lived since she was 18. The city is honoring the singer with pink lights and posters while handing out stickers, buttons and bookmarks.<\/p>\n

The Nashville celebration began with the unveiling of a new Dolly-themed license plate, with $25 from each plate sold going to support local Imagination Libraries. A downtown fireworks tribute is planned for 9.25pm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just bittersweet that Dolly isn\u2019t here with us,\u201d Nashville\u2019s mayor, Freddie O\u2019Connell, said during the event\u2019s kick-off. \u201cToday isn\u2019t about the music or the fame, it\u2019s about Dolly\u2019s best gift to all of us: her kindness, the way she cared, the depths of her caring and the enduring lessons she taught us about how to care for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tourists in Nashville, Tennessee, on 25 September 2026. Photograph: George Walker IV\/AP<\/p>\n

Southwest Airlines also announced plans to host<\/a> a Parton-inspired karaoke Friday for travelers and employees. Tennessee state and local officials are currently working to rename the airport after Parton.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, New Orleans<\/a> will host a tribute led by the marching group Krewe of Dolly. The memorial parade will commence at 5pm that will pass through the French Quarter and end at the Jazz Museum.<\/p>\n

In San Francisco<\/a>, organizers are planning a public celebration in the heart of the city called Dolly Day, described as a celebration of life that will include \u201csinging loud, dressing up and being a little kinder than usual in her honor\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, U2<\/a> announced a new album, entitled Carnaval de Luz, which will include the final recorded performance by Parton. Closing out the album\u2019s 12 tracks is Torn, a duet performed by Parton and Bono. The song is described in press materials as \u201ca tender country song detailing broken family ties, that holds wider resonances\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cities and states across the country are declaring 25 September Dolly Parton Day, month after the Queen of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-611870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}