Celebrating Valentine Around The World

Valentine is coming. We can celebrate this joyful holiday in many ways. Let’s find out how people from different countries celebrate Valentine!

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Valentine In The Air.

Early modern England gave rise to the traditions of Valentine’s Day, which include sending greeting cards (sometimes known as “valentines”), providing candy, and giving flowers. By the 19th century, these traditions had spread throughout the English-speaking globe. These traditions, like those of Halloween or certain features of Christmas, extended to other nations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries (such as Santa Claus).

Americas.

Latin America.

The majority of Latin American nations, including Costa Rica, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, refer to Saint Valentine’s Day as the “Day of Lovers” or the “Day of Love and Friendship.” People frequently engage in “acts of appreciation” for their pals.

It is referred to as “Affection Day” in Guatemala. Amigo secreto (“Secret friend”) is a practice that some nations have that is a game similar to Secret Santa during the holiday season. These nations include the Dominican Republic and El Salvador in particular.

Brazil.

The holiday of Dia dos Namorados, which translates to “Lovers’ Day” or “Boyfriends’/Girlfriends’ Day,” is observed in Brazil on June 12. This is likely because it falls on the day before Saint Anthony’s Day, when single women traditionally engage in common customs known as simpatias in an effort to find a good husband or boyfriend. Gifts, chocolates, cards, and flower bouquets are exchanged by couples.

Because it typically occurs too close to or too far after the Brazilian Carnival, which can occur anywhere from early February to early March and lasts about a week, Valentine’s Day on February 14 is not observed at all. Brazil was suggested by U.S. News & World Report as a travel option in February for Western singles who wish to escape the holiday due to the absence of Valentine’s Day and the celebrations of the Carnivals.

Colombia.

Colombia instead commemorates the Day of Love and Friendship on the third Saturday in September. There, Amigo Secreto is likewise well-liked.

United States.

Not counting the hundreds of millions of cards that students exchange at schools, about 190 million Valentine’s Day cards are mailed annually in the United States.

Valentine’s Day generates a significant amount of economic activity, with over $18.2 billion in total spending in 2017, or over $136 per person. From $108 per person in 2010, this represents an increase. According to a National Retail Federation survey conducted in 2019, fewer individuals now celebrate Valentine’s Day than they did ten years prior. They discovered three main causes from the findings of their survey: the holiday’s excessive commercialization, the lack of a significant other, and the lack of enthusiasm in celebrating it.

Europe.

Estonia And Finland.

Valentine’s Day is known as ystävänpäivä, which translates to “Friends Day,” in Finland. This day, as the name suggests, is primarily about commemorating friends than significant others. Valentine’s Day was first referred to in Estonia as valentinipäev and later also as sõbrapäev (‘Friends Day’) as a calque of the Finnish name.

France.

Valentine’s Day, often known as “Saint Valentin,” is observed in France, a predominantly Catholic nation, in a manner similar to other western nations. The remains of Saint Valentin de Terni, the patron saint of Valentine’s Day, are housed in the Roquemaure, Gard, Catholic church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Saint-Jean-l’Evangéliste in southern France. Every two years, on the Sunday closest to February 14, the “Fête des Amoureux” festivities take place. Over 800 people attended the program, which is performed by the village while dressed in period attire.

Greece.

According to Greek tradition, St. Valentine’s Day, or o, was not a celebration of romantic love. Until the late 1990s, few people were aware of Hyacinth of Caesarea, an Eastern Orthodox saint who guards those who are in love (feast day: July 3). Valentine’s Day is largely observed in the same manner as in the West in modern Greece.

Ireland.

The Shrine of St. Valentine in Dublin’s Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, which is supposed to hold the remains of Saint Valentine of Rome, attracts a lot of people looking for love on Saint Valentine’s Day. They pray there in the hopes of finding romance. There is a book there with the prayers for love from both foreigners and locals.

Poland.

Through Tyrol and Bavaria, Saint Valentine’s Day and the cult of Saint Valentine were brought to Poland. However, the 1990s saw a rise in its appeal. Since 2002, Chemno has hosted the sole (and largest) public holiday in Poland, known as “Walentynki Chełmińskie” (Valentine’s Day in Chemno). Since St. Valentine’s relic has been kept at Chemno’s parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary since the Middle Ages, the local cult of the saint and Anglo-Saxon tradition have been blended.

Portugal.

The day is celebrated as “Dia dos Namorados” (Lover’s Day/Day of the Enamoured) in Portugal. Couples exchange gifts, as is customary everywhere else, but in some areas, ladies give a lenço de namorados (literally, “lovers’ handkerchief”), which is typically embroidered with romantic designs.

Romania.

Valentine’s Day has just become a holiday in Romania as well. Numerous institutions, nationalist organizations, and people have reacted negatively to this, like Noua Dreaptǎ, who criticize Valentine’s Day as being superficial, commercial, and Western kitsch import. Dragobete, a spring festival observed in some areas of Southern Romania, has been revived in response to the perceived denaturization of national culture. During the Communist era, Dragobete was disregarded as the traditional Romanian holiday for lovers.

The celebration is named after a figure from Romanian legend who was purported to be Baba Dochia’s son. Its celebration used to take place on a different day depending on the region, but today February 24 is a popular occasion.

Spain.

By the 1970s, the holiday had grown widely in Spain after being originally publicized in a 1948 ad campaign by the network of department stores Galerías Preciados. The festival, also known as “San Valentín,” is observed similarly to how it is in the rest of the West.

United Kingdom.

Approximately £1.3 billion is spent yearly on cards, flowers, chocolates, and other gifts in the UK, where slightly under half of the population spends money on Valentine’s Day. An estimated 25 million cards are delivered each year.

In Wales, some people observe St. Dwynwen’s Day on January 25 in addition to (or in place of) Valentine’s Day. The Welsh patron saint of love, St. Dwynwen, is honored on this day. Sant Ffolant is the name given to Saint Valentine in Welsh.

Jane Austen’s line, “My heart is, and always will be, yours,” from her novel Sense and Sensibility as said by Edward Ferrars to Elinor Dashwood in the acclaimed 1995 film adaptation, was chosen by thousands of women as the most romantic line from literature, film, and television in a Channel 4 poll conducted in 2016 for Valentine’s Day.

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