Here in the United States, Valentine’s Day is all about roses, chocolates and love letters. From classroom exchanges to candlelit dinners, it’s a day dedicated to love, with heart-shaped everything filling stores. Valentine’s Day may be the time for love and chocolates here in the United States, but around the world, this special holiday takes on some fascinating, quirky and even some unexpected traditions. Let’s take a look at how the world spreads love on Feb. 14– and beyond!
To start off, not every country celebrates the day of love on Feb. 14. Brazil, rather than celebrating Valentine’s day, celebrates Dia dos Namorados every June 12. This is the eve of the Feast of St. Anthony, who is the patron saint of marriage. Just like us, Brazil celebrates their romantic holiday with love letters, special dinners and delicious chocolate– they just do it in the summer.
Similar to the United States, Spain celebrates their day of love on Feb 14 with chocolates, gifts and romantic gestures. However, some consider the real holiday to be on Oct. 9. This holiday celebrates Saint Dionysus, the patron saint of love. Certain regions of Spain host parades and parties to honor Dionysus. It is common for men on Oct. 9 to give their special someone a silk scarf or handkerchief.
In Germany, instead of exchanging traditional Valentine’s gifts, they give their loved ones pig-shaped gifts. For the Germans, pigs are a symbol of love, luck and prosperity. A lot of people will give their Valentine a heart-shaped pig trinket, so show they love them.
Mexico celebrates Valentine’s Day very similarly to us here in America. For them, Feb. 14 is “El Día del Amor y Amistad”– meaning “Day of Love and Friendship.” They focus on celebrating both romantic relationships but also friendships and family.
China is very unique because they celebrate the Qixi Festival, which happens on the seventh day of the seventh month of China’s lunar calendar. This year, this festival of love will be celebrated on Aug. 29. The tradition of Qixi Festival is based on an ancient Chinese story of a forbidden love affair between a mortal man and celestial weaver. Now, Chinese couples celebrate the holiday like us, by exchanging gifts and love letters. Some women practice their weaving on this day, to honor the traditional story.
While most people associate Valentine’s Day with romantic relationships, Finland doesn’t! Every Feb 14, they celebrate Friend’s Day, a day to honor and exchange gifts with friends and family. Most people will be found gifting cards to friends, neighbors and even co-workers.
For Ghana, Valentine’s Day is also known as National Chocolate Day. Ghana is one of the world’s largest producers of cocoa. On National Chocolate Day, they hold concerts and festivals featuring lots of chocolate. One of their goals is to increase domestic consumption of Ghanaian chocolate and other chocolate-based products.
Japan and Ghana are on the same wavelength because they also consider the most important aspect of Valentine’s Day to be chocolate. On Feb. 14 women are often seen gifting their male friends chocolate. They reserve their special gifts for their loved ones. It sounds like women are doing all the gift-giving but don’t worry on March 14, men return the favor. In Japan they celebrate White Day, where men give their women white chocolate.
Valentine’s Day may look different depending where you are in the world, but the message remains the same– love is important to celebrate. Whether it’s gifting pig-shaped candies, expressing your love through a letter or offering a box of chocolates to a neighbor, love is in the air all over the world. This Valentine’s Day I want you to embrace the global spirit of the holiday and maybe try a new tradition!
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