Taylor Swift’s recurring “august” social-media trend began in 2020, the year the song was released.
“august” appeared on Folklore on July 24, 2020. Because the song arrived just before August and centers on fleeting summer memories, fans quickly connected its title and mood with the calendar month.
The trend later became an annual ritual in which creators revisit the song around August 1. Videos often use saved photographs and clips from the summer, turning personal memories into short visual stories set to Swift’s recording.
A common confusion is identifying 2021 as the beginning because the practice became more visibly recurring after its first cycle. However, 2021 was a later continuation, not the origin year. The song and the earliest widely noticed seasonal association both date to 2020.