When was Taylor Swift’s “august” released on Folklore?

Taylor Swift’s “august” was released on July 24, 2020, on Folklore.

The track arrived as part of Swift’s surprise release of her eighth studio album. Swift announced Folklore only one day earlier, on July 23, 2020, making the album’s launch unusually immediate by major-pop standards.

Although the song is strongly associated with the month of August, it was not first released in August. That calendar connection is the source of a frequent misunderstanding: the title refers to the song’s setting and imagery, while the album arrived in late July.

Folklore was released through Republic Records during the COVID-19 pandemic. Swift described the album as emerging from imagination, escapism, and fictional storytelling rather than from a conventional promotional campaign. “August” consequently began as an album track and later developed a recurring seasonal life online and on streaming services.