Spring is Here and FREE Rita’s Italian Ice is Within Your Reach

On Monday, Dairy Queen kicked off its 75th year in business with free soft serve ice cream cones for all of its fans. But Dairy Queen isn’t the only one celebrating with freebies this week. It’s also the first day of spring this Friday, and Rita’s Italian Ice fans know what that means: a free Italian ice for everyone from noon to 9AM to celebrate the changing of the seasons.

The Pennsylvania-based Italian ice and frozen custard franchise has been in business for a little over 30 years, and has been commemorating the First Day of Spring through free icy treats for much of its existence—this year marks Rita’s 23rd annual First Day of Spring celebration. The chain is giving away free Italian ices all day, and in this modern internet age there are naturally chances to engage through social media as well:

Those sweet prizes—based on hashtagged photo submissions over Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that are then voted on by fellow Rita’s fans—are no joke, ranging free Gelatis for a month to free Italian ices for a year.

With more than 600 locations across 25 states, the relatively regional Rita’s Italian Ice has a strong fan base that turns out en masse for this yearly tradition: it’s reported that Rita’s locations gave away over 1.2 million cups of Italian ice during its First Day of Spring event in 2014. That number can only be expected to grow this year.

How do you know if your nearest location is participating? You’re in luck: all Rita’s locations (excepting special cases like resort locations, mobile units, and stadium and theme parks) participate. So get out there and enjoy some ice.