International Themed Smell Day is July 11

Mark your calendar: July 11 is International Themed Smell Day and it is exactly the kind of occasion the field of olfactory storytelling deserves.

The day was established by Liam R. Findlay, a leading themed attraction designer and scenting specialist, to celebrate the diverse and creative uses of smell in theme parks, museums, and other immersive experiences that tell stories through scent. It is a non-commercial initiative, driven entirely by passion for the practice and that spirit is precisely what makes it worth celebrating.

The date was chosen deliberately. July 11, 1969 was the opening day of the Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm in California. This ride is widely considered to be the world’s first theme park ride that had a deliberately themed smell. It is a fitting origin point for a day dedicated to the art and craft of olfactory storytelling in designed experiences.

International Themed Smell Day is a global celebration of the creativity and pioneering work that goes into integrating scent into themed and cultural experiences. It encompasses an extraordinary range of practice from scents that recreate extinct smells and bring lost worlds back to life, to smell stations in museum galleries, to the theatrical smellitzers used in dark rides that release carefully timed bursts of scent to heighten the narrative moment.

What unites all of these approaches is intentionality. Themed smells are not accidents or afterthoughts. They are the result of careful research, creative collaboration, and a genuine belief that smell is a legitimate and powerful medium for storytelling.

Throughout July, everyone is encouraged to share their own themed smell projects – or their encounters with themed smells in the wild – using the hashtag #InternationalThemedSmellDay. Whether you work in a museum, a theme park, or a cultural institution, or you are simply someone who noticed and appreciated a scent used thoughtfully in an experience, this is your invitation to share it.

The International Themed Smell Day is also being marked with a dedicated online event and this is where The Olfactory Contractor comes in!

On July 25, Liam and I are co-organizing Using Smells in Museums: An International Themed Smell Day Online Event. Hosted by the Fragrance Alliance Network, this three and a half hour online speaker series brings together curators, educators, and museum practitioners from around the world to explore how scent functions as an interpretive tool in museum and cultural heritage contexts.

The program focuses specifically on museum interpretation with a goal to inspire attendees with the confidence to harness the power of scent in new ways. Six talks and an expert panel will showcase scent as a tool for storytelling, learning and engagement, as speakers share their innovative projects. Meanwhile, attendees are invited to ask questions at regular intervals, encouraging the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

A central intention of the event is to shine a light on work that deserves wider recognition in the field, with some of it not yet widely visible in mainstream conversations. The speakers have been selected to represent a range of geographies, institution types, and approaches; their individual insights prove invaluable.

Registration is open now, book your place here for $25 – and all proceeds support the educational efforts of the Fragrance Alliance Network.

Whether you join us on July 25 or simply share your themed smell encounters throughout the month, International Themed Smell Day is an opportunity to be part of a growing global conversation about what smell can do as a medium for storytelling, interpretation, and cultural memory.