I Am Your Finnish Girlfriend: Valentine's Day in Finland

We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day, as such. In Finland February 14th is called ystävänpäivä (= friendship day), and it is exactly what the name suggests. The day has been celebrated since the 80s and it was imported to support an ingenious ad campaign by some heart association or whatever. Since then it has become the second most popular day to send out cards (after Christmas, naturally).

So we do celebrate the day, just not as Valentine’s day. A good little Finn sends all their friends cutesy cards with fluffy animals or something and thus profits mostly the greeting card companies. The day is not usually considered to be special for lovers, though lately this American influenced trend has started to show too.