With Christmas fast approaching, you may be struggling to think of ideas (or find the motivation!) for features and articles to be published in January. Luckily, we have a few suggestions of topics, events and occasions that you could cover as we begin 2026. Plus, we share what other journalists are usually looking for in the first month of the year with intel from the Journalist Enquiry Service.

What to cover in early January

2026 will be kicking off in London with the annual New Year’s Day parade. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the parade and over 8,000 performers will head from Green Park station to Westminster – entertaining an expected audience of 500,000 people along the way. You may look to do a feature covering the history of the event or speak to some of those that will be performing in the parade for the first time.

5 January is National Bird Day in the UK, and is there to highlight the fact that millions of birds get captured every year. It’s also not the only bird-related event in January, with the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch taking place from 23-25. An article speaking to an avian expert about the importance of birds to our gardens and the greater environment and ecosystem would tie in well with either of these occasions.

If you write for a food and drink magazine and already have all your Dry January and Veganuary content sorted, then why not write about Ginuary instead? This has been gaining popularity on social media (with the #Ginuary) since 2018 and acts as both a chance to try new flavours and gin-based cocktails but many companies also put on sales and offers during this time. Therefore a review of a new gin or an expert comment from a mixologist on the best gin cocktails would work well with this month-long celebration.

What’s coming up later in the month?

Staying on the topic of food and drink, there are several days later in the month to celebrate specific foods. The first is National Cheese Lover’s Day on 20 January, then National Pie Day on 23 January and finishing off with National Chocolate Cake Day on 27 January. A food expert or chef could be good to interview and share some recipe ideas for these three different food types.

Those covering the arts and entertainment beat might be interested in the London Art Fair, which takes place from 21-15 January. Established in 1989, over 100 galleries will be showcasing modern and contemporary art, with installations from artists such as Tracey Emin and Barbara Hepworth. A preview on some of the expected stand-out pieces with musings from an art dealer could be a good angle to cover this event from.

To round-off January, it’s the annual celebration in Scotland of Burns Night on 25 January. The Scottish tradition to celebrate the renowned poet Robert Burns, is a Burns supper which consists of haggis, neeps and tatties and a wee dram (whisky) after. Events take place across the country to mark the occasion so you may look to write a feature suggesting some of the best places to spend Burns night or perhaps review some whiskies and identify your own favourite wee dram.

Still stuck? Here are common trends from the Journalist Enquiry Service for January

Another common topic to cover in the first month of the year is Blue Monday, said to be the most depressing day of the year (which falls on 19 January 2026). This normally leads to a rise in requests around ‘mental health’, with around 2% of all enquiries in January this year on that topic, and also ‘wellness’, with just under 4% of requests focusing on this. Experts on both these topics could help offer some insight and opinion on how to deal with the January blues.

Travel always performs well on the Journalist Enquiry Service as a category and in January 2025 it also did well as a keyword, with 5.5% of the total requests containing the word ‘travel’. This could be an enquiry to find out what holiday destinations are going to be trending this year or to get recommendations for the best places to find some Winter sun.

Finally, January sees a big influx of enquiries relating to Valentines Day, with just over 6% of all requests in the first month of this year looking to cover that occasion. It could be gift guide items that you are looking to get or maybe a relationship coach to suggest some novel date ideas.

If you want to grab an expert to chat to or need to review a product then send a request via the Journalist Enquiry Service to get exactly what you need. Or you may be able to find what you’re looking for on our Press Release Wire, with lots of stats and facts to add into your article.