Valentine's Day (All Lovers' Day)

Roses are the most popular gift for loved onesThere are many Valentine’s Day festivals in Australia and their popularity is growing year by year. Around 90% of Australians aged 18 to 24 and 45% of people over 50 admit to celebrating the day. And festivals are a great opportunity to noisily and joyfully share love with family, friends, neighbors and colleagues.

Australian Lovers’ Day has its own traditions. It is said that during the Gold Rush years, gold miners became incredibly rich due to the inexhaustible reserves of the Ballarat mines. Trying to demonstrate their wealth, these lucky ladies ordered very extravagant "valentines", the cost of which sometimes reached several thousand pounds.

The most popular gift at that time was perfumed satin pads decorated with live flowers and colorful shells. Some turned to taxidermists and added to this grace stuffed real birds of paradise. All these treasures were kept for years in special decorated boxes – unusually fashionable and, of course, expensive.

In modern Australia, unusually sensitive to its unique flora and fauna, stuffed birds of paradise are no longer in fashion. As in many other countries, Australians give their loved ones flowers and postcards on Valentine’s Day. Recent studies show that Australian men are much more romantic and sentimental than the fair sex. Men in Australia buy more cards than women.