Valentine’s Day traditions: Unique practices& celebrations from countries around the world

The valentine’s day is the season of blooming flowers, hard-to-snag dinner reservations, cards carved in unuttered expressions, affectionate memorandums and an assortment of obligatory gifts to celebrate the festival of romance uniquely in a variety of cultures.

While countries like Bulgaria mark the occasion with a toast of red wine, Wales exchanges exclusively intricated handcrafted wooden spoons. Romanian couples, however, prefer to hang out in the forests picking fragrant flowers and later wash faces in the snow as they believe it’s a significant harbinger of Goodluck.

Cultures across the world have acquired interesting and exclusive practices to express love on February 14t, the day Saint Valentinus espoused a couple in a secret matrimony. In his honour, countries worldwide commemorate February 14 as a “Day of Love”.

1. Bulgaria

Bulgarians call the day St.Trifon Zarezan Day or the Winemaker’s Day and the couples purchase wine from the local winery aisles in the nation and raise a toast to their relationship.

2. Romania

They use the term Dragobete that implies The day the birds are betrothed and celebrate the day as a harbinger of spring. The men and the women wander in dense forests with a basket plucking flowers occasionally spotting a partner picking from the bunch of similar flowers. Some wash their faces with snow to bring health and happiness for the rest of the year.

3. South Africa

The ladies in South Africa venture out pinning the name of their partner or a secret admirer on the sleeves of their Valentine’s Day attire. The men anxiously wait for the ladies carrying their heart on the sleeves, literally. It’s synonymous with the game of Witchhunt inspired by Lupercalia, an ancient Roman festival.

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4. El Salvador

In an interesting twist to the game of Secret Santa, the EL Salvador nationals scribble the names on a piece of paper and draw slips. The men and women volunteer to pick a slip, the name on the slip is the person they buy Valentine’s day gift for. There’s more, the giver must propose or say kind things, and the accepter must give a monologue about what they admire about the person they’re taking the gift from highlighting their potential dating traits.

5. China

Chinese celebrate Valentine's day as Qixi Festival, meaning The Night of Seven to commemorate an old ancestral story passed on to the generations for centuries. A love tragedy tells the tale of two stars in Milky Way galaxy, a fairy named Zhinu who married a mortal young man named Niulang. They fell in love at first sight and married, infuriating the Goddess of Heaven who created Milky Way just to separate them.

On the East side of Milky Way lies the star Vega, which represents the girl, and on the west side, the young man searching for his lover. The lovers get the chance to see each other just once a year - during the Qixi celebration. Chinese girls during this time pray to find good husbands, and offer fruits and carve melons for Zhinu, the ancient goddess of love and relationships.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

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