Valentine’s Day is mainly about celebrating love and affection—most often romantic love, but also care between friends and family—on 14 February each year.

What Valentine’s Day is about

  • It’s a day to express love and appreciation with messages, time together, and small (or big) gestures.
  • People use it to say “I care about you” to partners, crushes, friends, and sometimes family.
  • Typical ways: cards, flowers (especially red roses), chocolates, or a shared meal or date.

A simple way to think of it: it’s a yearly reminder to be intentional about showing love, not just assuming people know how you feel.

How it started (short version)

  • Date: Celebrated every year on 14 February.
  • Origin: It began as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine (or several Valentines).
  • Earlier roots: The timing is linked by many historians to older Roman February festivals that the Church reshaped into a Christian celebration.
  • Romantic twist: In the Middle Ages, writers like Chaucer started connecting Saint Valentine’s Day with romantic and “courtly” love, which turned it into a romance-focused day.

So the “about love” part is actually a later layer on top of an older religious and cultural background.

What people do today

  • Exchange cards (“valentines”), often with hearts, doves, or Cupid.
  • Give gifts: chocolates, sweets, flowers (especially red roses), small personal presents.
  • Go on dates: dinners out, picnics, or special home-cooked meals.
  • Non-romantic: In some places, it’s also a day to show appreciation to friends, kids, or family, not just romantic partners.

Some people also use it as a day for self-care or spending time with close friends if they’re not in a relationship.

Different viewpoints on Valentine’s

  • Romantic fans: See it as a sweet tradition and an excuse to plan something special, propose, or define a relationship.
  • Casual enjoyers: Treat it as a fun theme day—maybe a bit of chocolate, a small card, or a low-key hangout.
  • Critics: Call it a commercial “Hallmark holiday,” arguing it pressures people to spend money or feel bad if they’re single.

All these views coexist now; for many people, how meaningful the day is depends on what they personally decide to do with it.

A quick illustrative example

Imagine three people on 14 February: one couple goes out for a fancy dinner and exchanges roses, one group of friends orders takeout and watches a movie, and one person treats themselves to a solo spa night and good dessert. All three are “doing Valentine’s Day” in different ways, but they’re all centering the day on showing or experiencing some form of love and appreciation.

TL;DR: Valentine’s Day is about expressing love—mostly romantic, but also friendship and family—on 14 February through messages, time, and gifts, built on centuries of religious, cultural, and now commercial traditions.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.