Gonks for Every Season: A Year of Gonks

Why seasonal gonks?

Once gonks became a Christmas favourite, people didn't want to put them away in January. Shops noticed. Valentine's and Easter gonks appeared on Amazon and Etsy soon after the 2020 Christmas craze, and supermarkets and discount chains have released spring and Halloween ranges since. Today you can keep a gonk on the mantelpiece all year and simply change who's on duty. If you're new to them, start with what is a gonk?

A year of gonks, month by month

Exact timings vary by shop and year, but this is the typical pattern in the UK:

For a more detailed buying calendar, read when do gonks go on sale?

Valentine's gonks

Valentine's gonks are usually pink, red or white, holding a heart or wearing heart-print hats. Pairs of gonks, one with a beard and one with plaits, are popular gifts for couples. They make a playful alternative to a card, and they don't melt like chocolate.

St Patrick's Day and Mother's Day gonks

St Patrick's Day gonks come in shades of green with shamrocks or clover. Mother's Day gonks tend to be floral, in soft pinks and lilacs, sometimes holding a little bouquet. Both are smaller ranges, so Etsy makers are often the best place to look.

Easter and spring gonks

Easter gonks are now one of the biggest ranges after Christmas, with pastel hats, bunny ears and painted eggs. Supermarkets including Aldi have sold Easter gonks as part of their seasonal ranges. See our dedicated Easter gonks guide.

Summer gonks

Summer is the quietest season for gonks, but you can find gardening gonks with watering cans, sun-hat gonks and beach gonks. Garden-themed gonks look sweet on a sunny windowsill. Keep fabric gonks out of strong direct sunlight, which can fade them over a summer.

Autumn and Halloween gonks

From late summer, shops fill with harvest gonks in warm colours and Halloween gonks in witch hats. Read our Halloween gonks guide for the designs to look for and an important recall notice from October 2026.

Christmas gonks

The main event. Our Christmas gonks guide covers styles, colours, traditions and how to choose.

Gonks for life's occasions

Beyond the calendar, gonks are made for:

• Birthdays: gonks holding balloons or wearing party hats.
• Weddings and anniversaries: bride-and-groom gonk pairs, often personalised with names and a date.
• New babies: "baby's first Christmas" gonk baubles and soft toy gonks. For anything going in a cot or pram, choose a proper toy labelled as suitable from birth. See are gonks safe for children?
• New homes: a "guardian of the house" gonk is a nice nod to the folklore.
• Hobbies and jobs: gardeners, teachers, nurses, footballers, golfers, bakers and many more.

Find present ideas for all of these in gonk gift ideas.

Planning a gonk year on a budget

Seasonal gonks are cheerful, but buying a new gang every month adds up quickly, and so does storage space. A few ways to keep it manageable:

• Buy one or two per season, not a whole set, and build up over the years.
• Shop the sales. Seasonal gonks are often reduced as soon as the occasion has passed, ready for next year.
• Swap hats, not gonks. If you make your own, one sock gonk body can wear different seasonal hats. See how to make a gonk.
• Use one box per season, labelled, so off-duty gonks are easy to find and rotate.

How to keep gonks out all year

• Choose a neutral base gang in grey, cream or sage that suits your room all year.
• Add one or two seasonal gonks each month rather than redecorating everything.
• Rotate and rest them. Put off-duty gonks away clean and dry. Our storage guide explains how.

Ready to start? Browse seasonal gonks or see decorating ideas.