More Valentine's Days to Celebrate

Tiffany Sun

February 28, 2025

In case you missed February 14th, or didn’t find your true love in time, don’t fret, there are still many other Valentines-esque holidays in the coming months that different countries celebrate to commemorate Saints/folk tales or celebrate a different group of people. Those include: Qixi Festival, Dia dos Namorados, White Day, Black Day, and Dwynwen’s Day.

Qixi Festival is a Chinese Valentine’s Day that has more than 2,000 years of history. Qixi is always celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month based on the Lunar calendar; this is typically in August, and is on the 29th of August this year. Qixi commemorates the tragic love story of Nuilang and ZhiNü, a forbidden love between a mortal and a celestial princess. After the Goddess of Heaven (or ZhiNü’s mother in some retellings) found out about their love, they were forcibly separated, never to see each other again except on Qixi, when magpies form a bridge between heaven and earth, across the Milky Way, for the two to meet. 

In comparison, the origin of Brazil’s Dia dos Namorados was for more pragmatic reasons. Because Valentine’s Day often overlapped with the biggest holiday in Brazil—Carnival—Brazilians decided to move Valentine’s Day to June 12th, a day before Saint Anthony’s Day. This made the most sense because Saint Anthony was the Saint of marriage. On Dia dos Namorados, Brazilians would engage in simpatias, which are rituals of varying complexity that manifest love. For example, someone hoping for love might add a pinch of salt and a rose in water, then bathe in that water 2 days later. 

Going back to Asian holidays, White Day is often celebrated in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan on the 14th of March (unfortunately not Pi Day). In these Asian countries, Valentine’s Day was often where women gifted men chocolates or presents. White Day is a reciprocation or follow-up of Valentine’s Day, where the men gift back the women something white. This holiday is rumored to have originated either because candy companies spotted an opportunity to boost business, or women felt that they weren’t receiving gifts on Valentine’s Day.

As for the singles out there, South Korea has a holiday for you! Black Day—on April 14th (the last of this 3 months love celebrations) —is where people dress in black and eat black foods, such as 짜장면 jjajangmyeon, a noodle that’s a comfort food for many. Black Day originated as a mourning of singleness; however, it is now a celebration.

Lastly, the Welsh’s Dwynwen’s Day falls prior to Valentine’s Day. Dwynwen’s Day is on January 25th, in celebration of the Welsh patron saint of lovers Dwynwen. Dwynwen’s Day is a typical holiday celebrating love, but the Welsh have a unique tradition of gifting love spoons. Love spoons are hand-carved, intricate spoons that men gift to women as a romantic gesture.