The room is filled with a hum of chatter and laughter as a group of friends huddle around a pile of pretty confections. Pink and red heart-shaped balloons drift lazily from the ceiling, while the walls are adorned with red garlands and sparkling streamers, as candles sit around the room. The soft scent of freshly baked goods wafts through the air, as sugar cookies, red velvet cupcakes and vintage heart shaped cakes come out of the oven.
Everyone is festively dressed in pink and red as they lounge around the room. Some are sipping on strawberry lemonade while others nibble on pizza. A small table sits in the center of the room decorated with wrapped gifts waiting to be exchanged. Music plays softly in the background, adding to the lively atmosphere. This isn’t just any old evening, it’s Galentine’s day!
Students often participate in the variety of school-sponsored activities during the season of love, including Crush cans, Singing Valentine’s, the National Honors Society bake sale and finding your paper heart around the school building. While many of these activities are centered around romantic gestures, many students have redefined their meaning. For example, while Crush cans were advertised to be sent to your “crush”, many students have flipped this tradition on its head by sending the cans to friends as well. This change can be representative of a broader trend where platonic affection for friends is celebrated as much as romantic affection. As students begin to place value on non-romantic connections, newer celebratory trends such as Galentine’s Day embodies this change.
However, what is Galentine’s Day?
Simply put, Galentine’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate friendships with your “gals”. While it’s an unofficial holiday, it is typically celebrated on Feb. 13, the day before Valentine’s Day and is used to prioritize the celebration of platonic love instead of romantic love.
The idea for Galentine’s day first originated on an episode of the popular sitcom “Parks and Recreation” in 2010 titled “Galentine’s Day”. In this episode, the main character of the series, Leslie Knope, (played by Amy Poehler), takes her friends out on a brunch date to celebrate their friendship and showers them with love by gifting them bouquets of crocheted flower pens, mosaics portraits made out of each friend’s favorite diet soda and individual 5,000 word essay on why her friends are awesome. Through these acts of appreciation, Leslie and her friends are able to spend a day appreciating the friendships which they all share with each other.
As Leslie Knope put it during the episode, “Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, is about romance. But Feb. 13t, Galentine’s Day, is about celebrating lady friends.”
Since 2011, the sentiment of celebrating friendships has definitely caught on. In 2025, much of the student body has planned and participated in Galentine’s Day, whether it included having dinner at a friend’s house or going out to a restaurant for lunch. Similar to Leslie Knope, students planned activities celebrating their friendships, but not as labor intensive as mosaic portraits made out of crushed diet sodas. Instead, Galentine’s Day activities ranged from painting, baking heart-shaped foods, having TV marathons, hosting a game night and of course, taking pictures.
“I went to a Galentine’s day celebration that one of my friends hosted, and when we were there, we baked heart-shaped pizzas, which was super fun,” said Abby McCarthy, junior. “We also decorated cupcakes, watched movies, and spent time together taking pictures in our outfits. Every Galentine’s day that I’ve been to had fun activities.”
Nowadays, Galentine’s Day seems to have increased in popularity and become a much more common tradition celebrated during the season of love, if not becoming as popular as Valentine’s Day.
But why are students so eager to partake in this holiday?
Well, one social trend emerging from younger generations is that Generation Z (Gen Z)tends to prioritise platonic relationships (such as friendships) over romantic relationships. In fact, according to YPulse, a research and insight platform focusing on understanding behavior and preference patterns of Gen Z and Millennials, more than 55% of Gen Z and Millennials believe that friendship is more important than romantic relationships (YPulse).
This trend may be attributed to shifts in popular culture which Gen Z grew up on. According to Renee Yasmeen, a research associate at Notre Dame’s Building Inclusive Growth Lab and opinion writer for The Washington Post, Gen Z was the first generation to grow up watching cartoons with self-sufficient female Disney princesses like Elsa, Merida, and Mulan whose stories do not end with the traditional “true love’s kiss”. Moreover, iconic sitcoms from the 1990s such as “Friends” and “Sex and the City” emphasized the value of long-term female friendships, and made them as appealing as romantic relationships.
This shift continues to be apparent today, as according to a 2024 study from UCLA, 63.5% of adolescents between the ages 10 and 24 want to see platonic relationships represented more in television and film.
As the cultural shift towards prioritizing platonic relationships over romantic relationships grows, it seems natural that events like Galentine’s Day become a natural extension of this trend.
“I was more excited for Galentine’s day than Valentine’s day,” said Claire Gilliam, senior. “I got to spend over a month planning for it, and I was really excited while setting up and decorating. I knew my friends and I would look good and take pictures. It was more fun than a typical date at a restaurant.”
Beyond cultural shifts, there are biological reasons why students may enjoy celebrating events such as Galentine’s Day. In general, friendships and positive feelings are reciprocal. According to a study published in 2012 in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, social interactions (including friendships) can increase the amount of serotonin in your body. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in the brain with many functions, one of them being influencing your feelings. A lack of serotonin in the body can lead to depression and anxiety, according to a study by the Cleveland Clinic.
Celebrating holidays like Galentine’s day, which celebrates close bonds between friends, can boost serotonin levels. This boost in serotonin is likely to improve one’s happiness and well-being, which is why students feel inclined to celebrate holidays such as Galentine’s day.
“With any kind of holiday, it’s just another excuse to get together,” said Robert Russo, sociology teacher. “People long for social connectedness. That would be one of the reasons why Galentine’s might be more popular. [Everyone] wants social connections, whether that be for status, for true support, or friendship.”
One final reason behind why students are excited to celebrate Galentine’s day is due to social media influence. Social media platforms such as TikTok or Instagram are major stakeholders in why the holiday became so popular in the first place.
According to BBC news, in recent years at least 200,000 videos using the hashtag “Galentine’s Day” have been posted on TikTok, showing its increasing popularity. Many students use the platform to find inspiration for decorations, activities, clothing, and themed-food appropriate for the holiday.
“I have definitely gained inspiration on TikTok and Instagram for Galentine’s Day,” said Samea Patel, junior. “On Instagram I have seen videos of people using plastic tablecloths to make bows to decorate the walls… I also used Pinterest as an inspiration for themed food.”
Beyond using social media for inspiration, platforms can act as a catalyst, influencing students to host their own Galentine’s day celebrations.
“I think that the rise of social media at this time has probably fed into [Galentine’s increasing popularity] the most because everybody is posting their Galentine’s day celebrations,” said Abby McCarthy, junior. “I hadn’t heard of Galentine’s day before, but I think that it is cute now.”
Overall, Galentine’s Day has become more than just a fun tradition; it’s a celebration of the friendships that make life special. What started as a sitcom episode grew into a widely celebrated holiday adopted by many students. With so many fun ways to celebrate, from baking together to creating heartfelt cards, it’s clear that this holiday is clear to stay. As the years go on, it’s clear to see that Galentine’s Day will become an even bigger part of how we celebrate the people who matter most in our lives.
