How (if at all) is St Valentine’s day usually celebrated in your city/region/country?

29 comments

1. I’ve never paid much attention to it but I think giving flowers to your girlfriend/wife is common – maybe along with a card and a small gift.

   A cousin of mine usually gives a rose to all women he is close to, so wife, sister, grandma, aunts and such. I don’t know how common this is, though.

   It’s definitely not as important a day as I see on American media and I don’t think restaurants are particularly packed that day.

2. When I lived in Turkey, this was a pretty big deal – there would be big fairs for Valentine’s gifts, heart-shaped balloons and roses everywhere. My dad always brought lots of flowers and cake, and we celebrated as a family (they didn’t want to exclude the kids). My boyfriends in my younger years always got me something small. Good times. I am not sure how it has been in the last few years, maybe another Turkish person can jump in.

   I myself love Valentine’s, I think it is a lovely opportunity to spend time together as a couple, focusing only on each other. Of course, it doesn’t have to be on Valentine’s, but if there is already an occasion, why not use it? We usually don’t buy gifts, but just have a nice date night. I also like going out with (usually lady) friends who are alone on Valentine’s for some reason if my husband is not around, just to have a nice time together.

3. Supermarkets and Discounters tell me when the day is near, because they want me to buy things. Other than that, I would say Valentine’s Day is of no importance anywhere in Germany.

4. In Spain (at least in Andalusia) basically what you said. Presents, cards and going to a smart restaurant. People also give chocolates and the lot.

5. It’s 100% commercial here. They want you to buy a LOT of stuff with hearts or roses. I don’t know anyone who actually does so, but I guess some people do. They wouldn’t advertise this much otherwise, would they?

6. Shops are decorated with pink heart shapes all over and some of them will offer special valentine’s breakfast baskets and other stuff like that. Personally all of that just reinvigorates the thought that I am still alone, in a time of the year that is already depressing enough as it is.

7. Men will take their girlfriends to the restaurant and buy a small present. You can also do it at home if you can set up a romantic atmosphere and cook a good meal.

8. Another imported, 100% commercial holiday, just like halloween.

9. [removed]

10. As I live in the most romantic city in the world, Dublin, it is obviously well celebrated. Cards, flowers, chocolates, visiting St. Valentine’s remains, meals, walks etc., are all part of it.

11. Love heart shaped presents, chocolate discounted in supermarkets, restaurants doing Valentine’s Day specials, supermarkets sell more roses, cards… all very commercial. We’re just going out to our favourite restaurant this weekend for the sake of Valentine’s Day, but that’s just because we wanted to go soon anyway so conveniently planned it for this weekend. I’ve bought a nice dress

12. Valentine’s Day is a Western import, the Eastern Orthodox denomination does not have a St Valentine saint for lovers. Locally there was a similar feast, Dragobete (February 24), with a similar meaning but Dragobete went into oblivion in Communist days and after, it was replaced by Sfantul Valentin.

    I am not sure how widespread in Romania is; I grew up without it and don’t care much.

13. In my hometown (an Italian village of around 8k people) St Valentine is the patron saint, and protector of oranges.

    So basically we just put oranges EVERYWHERE!

    Oranges arcs around the streets, oranges stands anywhere the eyes can look.

    We also have rhymes in our dialects about St Valentine. The main one is, of course, about oranges.

14. It was never celebrated until say ten years ago when hypercommercialization began. So now it should be shopping and gifts galore.

15. Maybe some people celebrate it, specially immigrants. Nothing to do with our real lovers day, 23 April, Saint George.

16. I reject these insinuations. Insinuations are a journalistic trick and should not occur in our liberal democratic basic order. You should’ve interviewed me differently. Now I ask myself: Where are you from, what kind of institution? You are a private organization conducting market research for a store to lure me into buying something.

    That’s nice. Valentine’s Day is something I don’t know from my childhood, it’s a completely unknown concept to me. And if I have someone to gift I reserve my right to do that independent of such a date. That Valentine’s Day is a bit of a rumble is a temporary trend. It probably came from the USA, but it could also be related to Rosenmontag, the catholic gluttony immediately before the Lent. And so I ask myself: Why do we make ourselves and our lives, our perception, our morals and ethics dependent on such calendary … uhm how is it called … parts. It doesn’t have to be, right? Just like the transition from one year to the other. There is a break. ‘Sorry, the bank is closed until Jan 5th’ and only then do we get our account statements. That can’t exist. A fluid transition, humanity and life go on, the globe is spinning. Well, sometimes it trembles a bit, for like a tenth of a second, we just experienced that.

    I won’t leave if he doesn’t ask. And you don’t need to do it either. That would make you – how is it called – neurotic. And from those neuroses your activity comes from. He doesn’t even want to … Where do you want to go?

17. When my grandmother was still alive, my grandfather always used to be so mad about valentine’s day. He said before the Americans bright the day to Germany, it wasn’t a thing and now the American soldiers had made German women expect flowers or whatever on valentine’s day, lol. No idea how true that is but he defibrillator felt strongly about it.

    She’s been dead for a few years now and he said he regretted not buying her more flowers 🙁

18. In Finland it’s literally called “Friends’ day”, and it became a thing only in the 80s. Unlike in most countries, it was originally a day to celebrate friendships, not lovers.

    It was never a big day compared to most other “special days”. You maybe sent postcards to your friends, some maybe bought or made small gifts to their best mates, maybe a little get-together in the evening, that sort of stuff.

    Nowadays it’s more and more Americanised/internationalised, stores are full of that pink/red heart-shaped crap and they really try to push it into a big commercialised holiday like in some other countries. Not a fan.

19. Basically your typical western import, where Supermarkets etc… “pressure” you to buy stuff for your loved ones, mainly chocolate and flowers.

20. couples go on a date and probably give gifts to each other, I wouldn´t knowm I have never been in a relationship during St Valentine´s 🙁

21. We don’t celebrate this Anglophone-tradition in Finland even though consumer goods corporations are hellbent on bringing it here…

22. In France if you’ve been the perfect husband/bf 364 days but you fuck up Valentine’s day, you are doomed.

    Flowers (flower shops are packed on this day), a gift, maybe a dinner out (but restaurants are ultra packed, and with overpriced special Valentines menus) or a nice home cooked dinner. This has to be a special day for da lady.

23. you usually do smth with your SO and give them a small gift like chocolate or flowers.

    schools do that letter thing but no one participates lol

24. it’s just another one of those commercial things here, not really of any historical or cultural relevance. Yes it’s fine to celebrate love and relationships, but personally I prefer to do it on a regular basis rather than because of some commercial thing.

25. Lots of commercial and public pressure to buy gift for SO. For some reason it’s mostly men buying for women. Elderly people fight it because it’s not Christian and not Catholic.
    /// I mean my country of origin. Poland.

    In the Netherlands its just buy buy buy. Harts, harts, harts.

26. It was not a thing at all in Germany, people had maybe heard about it from American tv shows, until the flower industry (yes, really!) pushed it in a weeks-long ad campaign, in which Kai Pflaume, a minor, but well known celebrity, kept telling everyone who saw the ads not to “forget” that it’s Valentine’s Day on the 14th.

    This was more than 20 years ago I still think it was utterly bizzare.

27. In Sweden it’s called Alla hjärtans dag which translates to All hearts’ day, and it’s pretty commercialised, but I don’t think it’s as commersialised as in some other countries.

28. The only tradition that has actually became a thing is to buy gelatin heart candies (not necessarily chocolate)

29. St valentines is the worst day of the year, change my mind, I can sleep all day in this day only to not have to see couples…