Postcrossing Blog

Now that our birthday shenanigans are over and we’ve recovered from the excitement of seeing so many of you join the Postcard Lounge and write postcards with us, we can finally jump to the next very important item on the agenda… World Postcard Day!

It’s time to reveal this year’s theme and design! So, without further ado, here’s 2026's World Postcard Day postcard, created by postcrosser Oce (aka ohhsayy):

This year’s theme is “Paper Bridges” — a way of thinking about postcards that feels almost obvious once you say it out loud, and yet is easy to forget in the everyday rush of writing and mailing. Every postcard begins as a small piece of paper… but once it is written, stamped, and sent, it becomes something much larger: a bridge between two people. “Paper Bridges” celebrates that little metamorphosis, the way a flat, ordinary object turns into a very special form of connection that spans the distance between sender and recipient.

Oce’s design plays with this idea beautifully, using folded-paper shapes, bold lettering, and bridge-like forms woven right into the typography. Arches and ribbons of paper curve across the card as if the letters themselves were built to connect one side to the other. The textured background will look particularly nice in textured paper, so if the service you use to print postcards offers that option, give it a try!

We first crossed paths with Oce at the Boston Stamp Show, where we got to see his work up close and were immediately drawn to it. He’s based in California, and if his name sounds familiar, it’s probably because he’s no stranger to the Postcrossing community: Oce has designed many postcards and special cancellation marks for meetups, and by now his playful, graphic style has become a familiar sight to quite a few of you already. We’re thrilled to have him bring that style to this year’s official postcard!

The design is, as usual, free to download, so you can have it printed locally or through any online service. Remember that every postcard posted on October 1st counts as a World Postcard Day card, so feel free to use this design or any other postcards you have on hand — they’re all good!

This year, we’re also trying something new: a black-and-white outline version of the postcard, designed for coloring in by hand. We first created a version like this a few years ago for a museum activity, and it was such a hit with young visitors that we thought it was time to share the idea with the wider community too — so that kids (and kids at heart!) everywhere can print it out (in uncoated paper), grab their favorite pencils or markers, and make the design their own on paper. You can find it alongside the regular design on the World Postcard Day website.

This will be the seventh World Postcard Day we celebrate together! For those of you who are new to it, October 1st is the anniversary of the first postcard ever sent, and has thus been chosen as the day to celebrate postcards. It’s a day that goes beyond Postcrossing — a day when everyone is invited to send a postcard to friends, family, children, people they admire, those that need a bit of support or cheering up… 😊

So… got any paper bridges to build this year? Whether it’s your first or seventh time celebrating, we hope you’re as excited as we are, and that this will be the best one yet!

PS: It’s completely fine if a design isn’t everyone’s personal style — artwork is subjective. And one of the nice things about World Postcard Day is that people can use any postcard to celebrate it: the official design, handmade postcards, other World Postcard Day themed designs or any postcard at all!

That said, please keep comments kind and constructive here. This year’s postcard was created by a member of our community and is being shared freely for anyone to use. It is a lot of work and it is offered in the spirit of a gift to the community.

Saying something isn’t your style is one thing… dismissive or hurtful comments about the artwork are another, and will be removed.

The balloons are slowly deflating now, and we’ve swept the confetti off the floor… but what a party World Postcard Day was! 🥰 Every year, we think things can’t possibly go any better, and every year the community proves us wrong. Now that the postcards sent on October 1st are starting to make their way around the globe, it’s time for a little recap of all the fun and magic.

The forum topic was buzzing with excitement from the very first time zone to the last. As midnight rolled across the world, celebrations began popping up like a beautiful stadium wave — from Asia to the Americas, one after another! Postcrossers shared photos, stories, and stacks of postcards ready to fly off to new destinations. The energy was infectious, and it even spilled over onto social media, where #WorldPostcardDay was full of smiling faces, mailboxes, and beautiful cards.

Over in the Postcard Lounge, things were just as lively: 410 of you joined us throughout the day to write postcards with some company! At one point, over 40 people were online simultaneously, quietly writing postcards together. We saw participants from Chile to New Zealand, and a few even recognized familiar names of people they’d once exchanged postcards with. It turned into a wonderfully long, cozy session of shared scribbling and postcard showing. A big thank you to everyone who volunteered to help host it — we’ll definitely have to do it again!

Meanwhile, 163 meetups took place all over the world, bringing postcard friends together in real life. Many meetups also happened via Geocaching, and a handful of libraries joined as well!

The official World Postcard Day design was everywhere, printed by postcrossers individually or in huge group orders. What a joy to see it travel! And we also saw many other postcards celebrating the day, including these beautiful handmade postcards that kara_ann's mom, Kris, sewed just for the occasion!

Also 2025 was the year in which we broke all records: over 117,000 postcards were sent on October 1st across all time zones! 😱 It’s a bit mind-boggling and, for us who have to manage the system — and a bit worrying too, as Postcrossing wasn’t built for such huge peaks of activity as there’s a limited amount of addresses that can be select at any given time. We’ll need to brainstorm some solutions for next year, which will (sadly) likely include lowering the limits on the day… but for now, we’re just amazed and grateful for everyone’s enthusiasm.

And speaking of gratitude, today is World Post Day — which marks the anniversary of the founding of the Universal Postal Union back in 1874. This year’s theme, “#PostForPeople: Local Service. Global Reach.”, celebrates postal services as a vital public service rooted in communities and driven by people. From rural villages to bustling cities, the postal infrastructure everywhere keeps us connected — often serving as a bridge to the wider world, and sometimes even to the digital one. We’re proud that postcards are a small but meaningful part of that mission, helping build connections that go beyond borders and bring a bit of happiness into the world. So here’s to postal workers everywhere (and to all of you!) for keeping this beautiful network alive, one postcard at a time!

It’s no secret that October 1st is our favorite date on the calendar: the day we come together to celebrate postcards, the little rectangles of paper that have been connecting people and carrying happiness across the globe for 156 years.

If you pause for a moment, you might imagine today’s postal network humming with extra excitement! Sorting machines whirring a little faster, postboxes filling up with colorful postcards, and mail carriers unknowingly carrying a bit of extra joy in their bags. Somewhere, someone is carefully choosing the best postcard, the nicest stamps, and the kindest words to brighten another person’s day. 🥰

So today, wherever you are, we invite you to take part in this big wave of connection. Write a postcard to a fellow postcrosser, but also think of your neighbors, friends, family (young and old), teachers, co-workers, or someone who could use a smile. Let’s make mailboxes everywhere burst with cheer!

If you need a little boost of energy for the task, we recommend the official fuel of World Postcard Day: ravioli (because they look like postage stamps) and stamp-shaped cookies for dessert. 😋

And of course, don’t forget to share your celebrations with us! You can join the Postcard Lounge at any time today to write postcards alongside others around the world or post your photos on the forum or on social media with the hashtag #WorldPostcardDay — we’ll be watching and sharing throughout the day.

Happy World Postcard Day, everyone! 🥳 May your pens flow smoothly, your mailboxes overflow, and your heart be a little happier knowing that you’re part of a global movement that spreads happiness, one postcard at a time.

Is everyone ready for the postcardiest day of the year? We hope so, because it’s only one week until World Postcard Day is heeeeeere! This will be the sixth year we organize the festivities to celebrate the best means of communication ever, and we can’t wait for an avalanche of postcards to flood the world’s mailboxes with smiles!

We have a long list of topics to go over, so this time I’m going to switch things up and turn them into a literal list. Here we go!

• First things first: make sure you have enough postcards and stamps on hand! You wouldn’t want to run out on this day, right? 😅
• Like in previous years, each postcrosser can send up to 10 postcards on October 1st so that we don’t run out of addresses on the website. If this is your first time celebrating the day with us, please read this to understand how things works.
• There’s something new this year: the postcards that count for the WPD badge will have a little star ⭐️ next to their Postcard ID on the Traveling Postcards page.
• But don’t stop at Postcrossing postcards: send some extras too! This is the perfect day to write to friends & family (near and far!), inspiring teachers, kind librarians, neighbors, co-workers or even the residents of a local nursing home. Reach out of your bubble and use the day to put smiles out there in the world.
• If you’re in Germany, Portugal, the UK or the USA, there are special postmarks you can use on your postcards too!

• Sooooo many meetups are taking place these days — check out all the stars on the map! It’s the perfect time to meet postcard friends (or make new ones) and celebrate together. And if you’re a geocacher, don’t forget: attending an event next week will earn you the World Postcard Day souvenir on your Geocaching account!
• Make plans to join us on the Postcard Lounge for a bit! Grab some postcards and a drink, and reserve some time to join this cozy livestreamed get-together, where we quietly write postcards in each other’s companionable silence.
• The official menu for the day is “things that resemble postage stamps”: we recommend ravioli for the main course, and stamp-shaped cookies for dessert. 😋
• Share some pictures with the community, either on the forum or elsewhere on the web, with the hashtag #WorldPostcardDay! We love seeing how this day looks from other people’s perspective.

And that’s all for now! As shown by all the exclamation marks on this blog post, we’re pretty excited and can’t wait to celebrate World Postcard Day with all of you next week!

Remember last year, when we invited you all to poke your local libraries to join the World Postcard Day? Some of you did, and we later saw pictures of many nice library events!

This year, we’d love to see even more libraries of all kinds join the fun. Whether it’s your local library, a school library, or even a Little Free Library in your neighborhood, putting up a poster and sharing some postcards there is the perfect way to invite visitors to celebrate the day! All you need is a nice basket, a stack of postcards, and one of our printable pamphlets (updated in this year’s World Postcard Day’s color!) to get people inspired.

In previous years, we’ve also mentioned children and school activities but postcards can also bring a lot of joy to places like elderly centers and retirement homes. Organizing a small postcard-writing or postcard-making workshop can be a nice, low-intensity activity for seniors, giving them the chance to do some crafts, share memories and connect with loved ones.

If you don’t work in such a place but know of one nearby, you can still brighten someone’s day by writing a few postcards to residents on October 1st! We really encourage you to suprise the seniors with a few nice postcards, sharing some stories and well wishes — we’re sure it’ll make their day!

Whether it’s a big library or a nursing home, postcards have the power to create connections everywhere. So why not make World Postcard Day an excuse to spread a little more kindness in the world?

And as always, we’d love to see what you come up with — so please share your plans and photos with the community. 😍 Besides sending some postcards on Postcrossing, who will you be writing to on World Postcard Day?