Ben & Jerry’s Just Announced the Date of Free Cone Day 2026
You'd better clear your schedule.
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Mark your calendars: Ben & Jerry’s annual Free Cone Day is coming back for 2026. Here’s the inside scoop.
When is Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day 2026?
Ben & Jerry's annual Free Cone Day will be celebrated on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. On that day, when you visit a participating Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop anywhere in the world, you can get free scoops of ice cream. Yes, we said scoops, plural. Unlimited. The only catch is that you have to get them one scoop at a time, so if you want to maximize your ice cream consumption, you’d better clear your schedule.
How does Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day work?
Just line up at a participating Scoop Shop on April 14 and, when you get to the front of the line, order any flavor you want. Receive your free scoop — in a cup or a cone, despite the name. Enjoy.
Then, if you want another one, just get back in line and do it all again.
“There is no limit to the amount of times [customers] can get their hands on a free cone,” the brand says. “It’s our way of saying THANK YOU for being the best fans ever.”
So, Ben & Jerry’s fans don’t have to choose between Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Mint Chocolate Chunk; they can have both.
You can check Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day hours (generally between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m., local time) and locations here.
When did Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day start?
Ben & Jerry’s has been giving out free scoops every year since 1979. Co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield launched Free Cone Day to show their appreciation for the customers of their first scoop shop, in Burlington, Vermont, after a particularly cold winter.
“What started as an ice cream giveaway from a single Scoop Shop … has now cemented itself as a global celebration, with free cones available to fans in 13 countries,” the brand says about its longtime tradition. Ben & Jerry's CEO Jochanan Senf calls the day an “international moment of togetherness.”
This year, the brand aims to best the big year it had in 2023, when it gave away a million free scoops of ice cream.
"In 2026, our aim is to go even bigger,” Senf says in a statement. "We want to hand out 1 million and one free scoops of ice cream across the globe to spread a little joy on the best unofficial holiday of the year.”
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