Ace Week 2026: A complete guide to the international asexual awareness campaign

Ace Week 2026 begins this week, and runs until Saturday 31 October. For the next seven days, asexual people and their allies around the world will be sharing their stories, hosting events and helping more people understand an identity that still gets far less attention than it deserves.

Ace Week is an annual international campaign to raise awareness of asexuality and to educate people about it. Asexual people, often known simply as ace, experience little or no sexual attraction, and the week gives the community a moment to be seen on its own terms.

The organisers say the campaign began as a push for asexual people to be included in LGBTQ+ spaces, and it has since grown into something marked by groups, universities and individuals across the world.

Its roots go back to 2010, when Sara Beth Brooks founded what was then called Asexual Awareness Week, with help from David Jay, the founder of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, better known as AVEN.

That first campaign happened largely online, through blogs, social media and short video letters. By the following year a committee of around 20 people was planning it, and events were taking place in several countries. In 2019 the campaign joined the non-profit Asexual Outreach and took on the name Ace Week, along with a new logo.

The dates move slightly each year because the week always falls in the last full week of October, starting on a Sunday. That is why it begins today this year, while in 2027 it will run from 24 to 30 October.

If you would like to get involved, the best place to start is the official Ace Week website at aceweek.org, which lists online events hosted by community groups throughout the week.

Anyone organising their own event can submit it to be promoted through the campaign's mailing list and social media, and groups planning a panel or workshop can request a speaker.

There are also ways to support the work beyond this week, including signing up for updates, volunteering and fundraising through the Aces & Aros project.

Taking part does not have to mean organising anything. You could follow asexual activists such as Yasmin Benoit, and watching films such as Slow and Queens of the Qing Dynasty.

If you are looking for somewhere to start on screen, we recently looked at how Silver Express puts asexual and aromantic identities at the heart of a Japanese film, a story that sits neatly alongside this week.

Above all, Ace Week is a chance to listen. Reading a personal story, sharing an event with a friend or simply asking an ace person in your life what the week means to them are all small ways to make the community feel more visible.

Events continue online until Saturday 31 October, and with the campaign now sixteen years old, there is every reason to expect it to keep growing when it returns next October.

Image credits ACEWEEK.ORG