Father's day in Birmingham, like other parts of the United Kingdom, falls on the third Sunday of June, with the date this year being the 19 June. On Father's Day in Birmingham it is a day when many people make that special effort to visit their father's, and father figures such as grandfathers and father-in-laws and for those living far away to make contact by either letter, card or phone.

Gifts for Father's Day in Birmingham, generally include wine, chocolate, for smoker's cigarettes, various items of clothing, or luxury food items and if the recipient's wife has anything to say about it, maintenance or DIY items for either the house or garden. Other families may decide to treat Dad to a restaurant meal.

Father's Day gifts may also carry printed slogans such as "The World's Best Dad", "Pop", "Dad's Glass", or "Dad's  Cup", "You Are The Best" or just a simple "Dad" on them. With the increase in print-on-demand services offered by photo processing companies, personalized gifts have become even more popular for Father's Day. Photographs of children can be printed on T- shirts, calendars, mugs, T-shirts, bags and even ties.

For those searching for the ideal Father's Day presents, Birmingham is a shopper's paradise offering numerous department stores, high street shops and shopping malls in abundance with the likes of Selfridges, Debenhams, Arcadian, House of Fraser, Bhs, Primark, The Palasades, The Great Western Arcade, The Mail Box, one of the city's premier shopping, lifestyle and restaurant location with over fifty exclusive stores to choose from. The Bull Ring shopping centre and its adjacent markets is also a well worth a visit.

If you are looking for a present in gold or silver, in the shape of a ring etc., why not visit the famous Birmingham Jewellery Quarter?  You will be absolutely amazed at the handmade jewellery on show and the asking prices indicated.

A common Father's Day gift is a traditional roast dinner with meat, potatoes and vegetables meal, which can be eaten in a pub or Birmingham restaurant and accompanied by a pint or too of ale or lager, with Dad being driven there by a family member or local taxi to enable him to sup a few pints in order for him to get in the spirit of things.

For gift ideas offered by Birmingham shops, check what's on offer on the internet under the heading of Father's Day shopping in Birmingham..

Many restaurants and pubs will be advertising Father's Day meals for weeks beforehand, with an encouragement to "Book Now and Avoid Disappointment"

In the days and weeks before Father's Day in Birmingham, infant schools will encourage their pupils to make a handmade card and/or gift for their father. Mothers and other family members will also encourage and assist children in the making of personalized gifts, such as calendars with drawings attached which have been produced by the children.

Some families celebrate Father's Day by planning an outing or weekend trip, perhaps just for the male members of the family. This may be a simple walk in the countryside or a whole planned "experience". Popular Father's Day experiences include driving a fire engine, racing car, rally car, tank or even an airplane or taking a golf, fishing, football or cricket lesson with a celebrity coach. They may even be treated to a football or cricket match at Villa Park, St Andrews or Edgbaston, the home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club.

With some of the more elderly children amongst us, who by now are perhaps parents themselves, have you ever considered a combined late Mother's Day and early Father's Day present? Why not treat them both to a show or similar. Birmingham with its National Indoor Arena, National Exhibition Centre, LG Arena, Symphony Hall, Royal Ballet, Hippodrome, Alexandra Theatre, Old Repertory Theatre, Town Hall, O2 Academy etc, certainly offers numerous choices in this arena.

How about an interesting day at the National Sea Life Centre or The Mail Box.

If Dad and Mom are garden enthusiasts why not consider treating them to a day out at Birmingham's Botanical Gardens, with its various greenhouses filled with plants and trees from Tropical, Sub Tropical, Arid and Mediterranean regions, beautiful lawns and gardens plus everything else that it has to offer?

If they are both lovers of chocolate, how about a trip to Cadbury World?

Father's Day, like Mother's Day in Birmingham, is not a bank holiday. In terms of public life it is simply a normal Sunday. Public transport systems run to their normal timetables, with pubs and restaurants busy, as people take their fathers out for a meal as mentioned above, to celebrate the occasion.

The idea of a special day to honour fathers and celebrate fatherhood was introduced from the United States where a lady called Sonora Smart Dodd was inspired by Mother's Day celebrations to plan a day to honour fathers. Father's Day has been celebrated in June since 1910 in the USA. Celebrations in the United Kingdom are thought to have been inspired by the American custom of Father's Day. This is in contrast to Mother's Day, which has a very different history in the United States and the United Kingdom.

For a lot of dads, especially the older ones amongst us, they cynically see the day as an exploitation by shops, Birmingham restaurants, pubs and the other commercial organisations involved to simply make money from the occasion. They probably feel that way even more so in the current economical climate, especially when they think back to their childhood where there was very little interest, unlike Mother's Day, shown in any form of Father's Day celebrations.

The following are Fathers Day dates for the next four years - June 17, 2012, June 16, 2013, June 15 2014 and June 21 2015.

Whatever you decide, we at Activ Birmingham hope that Dad or Mom & Dad has/have a day to remember on this annual or if you decide, combined event.