Five facts about Valentine's Day
In January, we celebrate the beginning of a new year, pressing reset on the calendar, and bringing all the many yearly celebrations firmly back into our future.
Amongst those celebrations, there are always a few that loom a little larger than others, be it for good or for ill. One of the most polarising celebrations on the calendar is Valentine's Day. Known to us all from rom-coms and romance novels alike, Valentine's Day comes with its fair share of baggage. For some, it's a joyous opportunity to celebrate the people they love, while for others, it can seem an unnecessary and exclusionary drain on the bank balance.
So, here at BBC Bitesize, we've done a deep dive into all you need to know about Valentine's Day, from its traditions, to its origins to when you can be expecting it to roll around this year.
What is Valentine's Day?
Valentine's Day, also known as St. Valentine's Day, is a yearly celebration of love and romance, where people all across the globe show their love and affection for those around them, with gifts, cards and a healthy helping of chocolate.
Often an important day in any couple's calendar, Valentine's Day regularly sees restaurants filled to the brim, as people take the time to spend an evening with the most important person or people in their life. Some people make their Valentine's Day bookings months in advance, with restaurant reservations skyrocketing around Valentine's night.
It's customary for people to share gifts and tokens of affection with the people they love, whether that be a bouquet of flowers or a selection of chocolates in a heart-shaped box. The notion of gift giving on Valentine's Day may seem like a recent one, but these traditions actually go back centuries. Cadbury's, for example, began to put chocolates in a heart-shaped box in 1868, with the oldest known English Valentine's message being written all the way back in 1477!
Where did Valentine's Day get its name?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Valentine's Day takes its name from the patron saint of love himself, Saint Valentine. There's a whole host of stories and legends about who St Valentine is, and why he became so synonymous with this celebration of love.
The most popular theory is that Valentine was a priest in Rome in the third century AD. During this time, it is said that Emperor Claudius II, then-ruler of Rome, banned the practise of marriage for those in the army, believing that unmarried men made for better soldiers.
St. Valentine considered this ruling unfair, rebelling against it to arrange marriages in secret, for which he was thrown in jail. While in jail, legend has it that he fell in love with his jailer's daughter, sending a message to her on the date of his execution - 14 February - signed "from your Valentine".
Centuries later, in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I officially named 14 February as St. Valentine's day. As well as serving as the patron saint of love, St. Valentine is also the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy, though the official reason for this isn't confirmed.
Where does the modern Valentine's Day come from?
Often known as a 'Hallmark Holiday', it's sometimes touted that Valentine's Day was invented by greeting card companies, as a way to flog cards and chocolate to cosied-up couples come February each year. However, Valentine's Day actually has a long, storied history, dating all the way back to ancient Rome.
In the middle of February, Romans celebrated a holiday known as Lupercalia. This marked the beginning of their springtime, and was associated with lots of different rituals and traditions. Some suggest that, as part of those celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box, and the pair would then act as 'boyfriend and girlfriend' for the rest of the festival, with some even getting married.
It's not known whether this was actually the case, but either way, down the line, the Church decided to turn Lupercalia into a Christian celebration. In doing so, they decided to use the day as a celebration of St. Valentine too, which eventually evolved into Valentine’s Day.
The day was further endowed into our cultural consciousness by movies, television, books and greeting card companies, marking the day as a celebration of love for the religious and non-religious alike.
When is Valentine's Day 2026?
Valentine's Day is celebrated each year on 14 February, a tradition stretching back all the way to 496 AD!
In 2026, for most people, Valentine's Day will take place on Saturday 14 February. In Wales, however, they celebrate their own version of Valentine's Day, St Dwynwen's Day, on 25 January.
St Dwynwen was a Welsh princess in the fifth century, whose tragic tale of love and loss earned her the moniker of the Welsh patron saint of lovers. To read more about St Dwynwen's Day and its origins, check out this article from Newsround.
What is Galentine's Day?
Celebrated on 13 February, the day before Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day is a celebration of female friendship and womanhood, basically serving as a friendship equivalent to Valentine's Day.
Invented by Leslie Knope, lead character in the US sitcom 'Parks and Recreation', Galentine's Day grew to prominence in 2010, growing well beyond the boundaries of the show to become an important calendar moment for many across the globe.
Also celebrated on 13 February is Palentine's Day, which combines the word 'pal' with the word 'Valentine's' and serves as an opportunity to celebrate platonic love in all its forms.
So if you're without a Valentine this year, fear not, as there's loads of opportunities to celebrate with the people you love in February.