The arrival of February brings a special day to Rock Ridge: Valentine’s Day, a day for giving and receiving love. Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to celebrate your relationships, but not all of them have to be romantic. 

Many have started celebrating “Galentines Day” instead of the all-traditional day for romantic love. Galentine’s Day is a play on Feb. 14, where people, specifically groups of girls, meet up and celebrate the day with their friends and celebrate their platonic relationships. 

Some celebrations are small gatherings with close friends, and some are large parties, but regardless of the size of the gathering, this trend includes everyone participating and having fun. This trend was first introduced more than a decade ago in the show “Parks and Recreation.” Galentine’s Day is usually celebrated the day before or after Valentine’s Day. 

Junior Nila Divakar sincerely loves Valentine’s Day and appreciates the holiday for always being fun and fresh. She also enjoys celebrating Galentine’s the day before her favorite holiday. She attributes the holiday to the rise of feminism and friendships being more celebrated in general. “A cohesive community of women is what makes women in society come together, band together, and do more things together,” Divakar said.

Though some people believe that Galentine’s Day is another consumer capitalism holiday like its counterpart, Valentine’s Day, many find this unofficial holiday a fun way to spend another day with their friends. Sophomore Tanvi Kethiri likes spoiling her friends on Galentine’s Day. “Giving gifts is just more fun with your friends than other people,” Kethiri said.

There is no wrong way to celebrate Galentine’s Day, whether your friends live next door or in another state. Meeting up with your friends with chocolate and roses is a classic, but events like game nights and movie marathons is a great way to spend the day. Galentine’s Day can be spent online, with a long relaxing call with friends outside the country. Sophomore Anika Dosapati loves spending her Galentine’s with her family and friends, using the charm of the holiday to her advantage. Galentine’s Day is to celebrate female friendships and some of the strongest friendships we have are with parents. “Me and my dad got flowers for my mom, and that was really fun,” Dospati said. 

An ever-growing tradition of Galentine’s Day is nationwide marathons of movies like “Mean Girls” and “Legally Blonde.”. Regardless of whether you celebrate Galentine’s this month, take a day to appreciate your friends whether you do it on the 13th or for the rest of the year.