St Valentine's Day Customs Around the World

Valentine’s Day is celebrated across the globe in different ways

This month, Valentine’s Day will see us buying our loved ones cards, flowers and gifts and perhaps sharing a romantic meal. Many countries around the world celebrate Valentine’s Day, or an equivalent not necessarily on 14th February. Always seen as a nation of romantics, it is believed that the first Valentine was sent in France when Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote love letters to his wife from prison in 1415. Although Valentine’s Day is celebrated across the country, the French village of Saint-Valentin hosts a special three-day festival from 13th to 15th February, when trees and houses are bedecked with hearts, love letters and red roses. It is traditional for lovers to propose in Le Jardin des Amoreux (The Lovers’ Garden) beneath a decorated willow tree known as Le Saule aux Coeurs (the Willow of Hearts). One of the precursors to Valentine’s Day was the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. At this festival, it was customary for women to wear the name of their beloved on their arm. This ritual continues in South Africa where women pin paper hearts with the name of their sweetheart onto their sleeves thus letting them know they have a secret admirer. It is possible that this ancient tradition is where the expression ‘wearing your heart on your sleeve’ comes from. Since the 1930s, women in Japan have presented boxes of fabulously coloured and decorated chocolates on Valentine’s Day. The tradition began there in 1936 when confectioner Morozoff Ltd placed the first advert for Valentine’s Day gifts in an English newspaper aimed at the expatriate community. Over the next forty years Valentine’s Day gained a foothold in Japan, but it is celebrated with a twist because women are the givers. The chocolate gifts have a definite hierarchy. Chocolate presented to a lover is honmei-choko, literally meaning ‘favourite’ or ‘sincere’ chocolate, and is sometimes home-made. But women also give chocolate to important men in their life with whom they have no romantic connection, such as their boss. This type of chocolate is called giri-choko or ‘obligation chocolate’. If the woman doesn’t particularly like the recipient but is obliged

to give them a gift, she might offer the lesser chô-giri choko (very obligatory chocolate). Although the tradition has been for women to give men chocolate, more recently tomo-choko or ‘companion chocolate’ has appeared, in which women also give chocolate boxes to their best girlfriends. Across some Scandinavian countries, it has become traditional for an admirer to send short love verses known as gaekkbrev on Valentine’s Day. The anonymous poems are signed with dots, each corresponding to a letter in the sender’s name. If the recipient can guess who sent the poem, they will receive an Easter egg from them later in the year. If they can’t, they have to give an Easter egg to the sender. In Denmark it is also customary to give pressed flowers, traditionally snowdrops. Bulgaria celebrates Valentine’s Day with a glass of home-produced wine. Known as San Trifon Zartan, the celebration is literally the ‘Day of Winemakers’. Valentine’s Day is known as Zdravko in Slovenia The Welsh have long had an alternative to and is linked with celebrations of fertility and the Valentine’s Day. There, St Dwynwen’s Day is on land. An old Slovenian proverb goes: “St Valentine’s 25th January. St Dwywen is the Welsh patron saint brings the keys of roots”, as it is the day work of lovers and it was historically the day when men usually begins in the fields. would give their wives, fiancées and girlfriends There is a charming belief that it is also the day intricately carved and symbolic wooden Welsh love when birds propose to each other and wed for the spoons. season. But the award for the most romantic nation must Estonians see Valentine’s Day as a festival of love go to South Korea. As well as celebrating Valentine’s for everyone. Sobrapaev translates as Friendship Day where (like Japan) women traditionally honour Day and as such does not have a romantic bias, men, the 14th day of every month is reserved for instead celebrating love between all. lovers and each celebration has a different name. 14th January is Candle Day and 14th March is known as White Day, when men reciprocate Valentine’s Day and give gifts to women. No one is left out as April 14th is Black Day and reserved for single people, who mark it by coming together to eat jajangmyeon or black noodles. May brings the Day of Roses, June the Day of Kisses and July 14th is Silver Day. August’s Green Day refers to an alcoholic beverage known as soju, a spirit made from rice. It is traditional to drink this followed by a romantic walk. September sees Music Day, October is Wine Day, November Movie Day and December 14th is the Day of Hugs. That is a lot of celebrations and holidays for lovers! 8 Please mention The Villager and Town Life when responding to adverts