Lily Pollock and Chloé Boulianne
Valentine’s Day is a holiday that can help you show your loved ones how much you truly care about them. Around the world, different cultures have some interesting customs around this international festivity. Read on to learn about the different activities that people have to celebrate.
In Canada, we send heart filled letters, love notes, and chocolates but did you know that in Wales, couples give each other spoons to show their appreciation? In Germany, they exchange figurine or cartoon pigs to show that they love each other as pigs are considered good luck. The common phrase “wear your heart on your sleeve” is not just an expression in South Africa, where some women put a heart on their sleeve with the name of their lover on it. Some places aren't in love with the holiday, and have even banned it.
Long ago, France would host a loterie d'amour, which went something like this: men and women would yell at each other from houses across from each other, and would then get together. The men could ditch their date if they weren’t passionate about the lady, leaving all the women who had lost their dates. They would get together and burn pictures of the guys who left them and feed their anger into a bonfire. After a while, the French government had to ban the event because it was getting a little out of hand.
Here is a really eccentric one. In rural Austria, it’s not chocolate treats you give your love, it’s sweat-soaked apples! Yes, that’s right, young women would do a ritual dance with apple slices held in their armpits. When the dance was done, they would give a slice of apple to the man of their choosing, and if her feelings were reciprocated, he would eat the apple slice.
There are a lot of traditions and rituals done all over the world, and many may seem strange to us, especially when it comes to holiday celebrations. But at the end of the day, it really is the thought that counts.
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