Free Cone Day: IL Dairy Queen Giveaway For 1st Day Of Spring

ILLINOIS — It's almost here: Wednesday, March 20, marks the first day of spring 2019. But it gets even better: It's also Free Cone Day at Dairy Queen.

The chain — founded in Joliet more than 70 years ago — will offer a free small vanilla soft-serve cone at participating non-mall locations. The promotion is good all day long, limit one per person.

Related: Supermoon Marks Start Of Spring In Illinois

“We love that our tradition of Free Cone Day has become synonymous with return of warmer weather and bringing people together,” Maria Hokanson, executive vice president of marketing at American Dairy Queen corporation said. “We know the start of soft-serve season brings joy to our fans, and we can’t wait to help spread smiles.”

Dairy Queen has dozens of locations throughout the Chicago area. Find the non-mall location closest to you using the Dairy Queen store locator.

Dairy Queen said a customer survey also revealed the following:

• 92.2 percent say a DQ soft-serve cone would make them happy.
• People are happier on Free Cone Day than they are on their own birthday.
• 61.6 percent would share a bite of their DQ cone with their significant other, but only 23 percent would share the first bite.

Dairy Queen is America's largest ice cream chain, with 6,000 locations in 49 states and a dozen other countries. Sherb Noble opened the Joliet Dairy Queen on June 22, 1940, at 501 N. Chicago St. Though it hasn't been a Dairy Queen since the 1950s, the building still stands as a city landmark.