California Sets Sept. 25 as Dolly Parton Day

California has made September 25 Dolly Parton Day by law, while twenty farms across the country carve corn-maze portraits of the late legend.

California has officially established September 25 as Dolly Parton Day. According to NBC Bay Area, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 931, authored by State Senators Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, and John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, with the date 9/25 chosen as a nod to Parton's hit "9 to 5." Lawmakers stressed that her impact stretches far beyond entertainment, citing her humanitarian work and early-childhood literacy commitment through the Imagination Library.

The Associated Press, via WXXV News 25, reports that Parton died of cancer on August 25 in Nashville at age 80, so California's new annual day of recognition arrives barely a month after her death. That a state legislature would move so quickly to encode a country singer into its calendar is a striking measure of her stature — the outlet notes her death brought tributes ranging from a drive to rename Nashville's airport to a surge in streams of "9 to 5" and "Islands in the Stream."

NBC Bay Area quotes Newsom urging Californians to "live a little more like Dolly. Be kind, be humble, and have some fun… Be a diamond in a rhinestone world." Senator Grove called Parton's brightest sparkle "the literacy legacy she built through the Imagination Library," while Laird noted she "was also no stranger to the Central Coast," where she performed for packed crowds. The outlet frames the day as an annual reminder to live "joyfully, graciously, and with a whole lot of heart."

The tribute wave extends into farmland. Per the Associated Press report carried by WXXV News 25, twenty farms across roughly a dozen states and two Canadian provinces have carved large corn mazes honoring Parton this fall, many raising money for her Imagination Library, with most featuring Parton-themed trivia games and photo ops. The Maize Inc., the Utah consulting firm behind the designs, said the mazes were planned months before her death as part of an annual campaign that previously honored Reba McEntire in 2023, Luke Bryan in 2024 and Lainey Wilson in 2025.

The numbers explain the outpouring. According to NBC Bay Area, Parton sold more than 100 million records worldwide across a six-decade career, notched 25 number-one hits — the most by any female country artist — and saw "I Will Always Love You" top the charts twice before Whitney Houston's cover. The Imagination Library has distributed more than 300 million books to children worldwide, including across California, making the state day as much about literacy as about music.