Friends Day
Description:
“What should a true friend be?” the students of a school in a suburb of Helsinki mused. The picture, which depicts a funny smiling dog, lists the qualities of a real friend: "In his heart there is always a place for you, he is always ready to listen, always ready to protect and support."
Friends Day for Finns is one of the reasons to think about human relationships between friends, lovers, loved ones and even between completely strangers.
In Finland, the holiday began to be celebrated in the mid-1980s, and in 1987 it was officially included in the holiday calendar.
Valentine’s Day came to Finland from the United States through student exchanges and youth meetings, so to this day the holiday is popular, primarily among young people and children. According to sociologists, the likely reason that in Finland the Day of Lovers turned into the Day of Friends is the desire of Finns for gender equality, or perhaps that in love, as in friendship, Finns primarily value loyalty, constancy and depth of feelings.
But perhaps the most important reason for the appearance of Friends Day is that it allows almost everyone to join the holiday, not just happy lovers.
One way or another, in Finland, as in other countries, on this day people send each other "valentines", give candy, toys and other gifts with the image of hearts.
According to Finnish Post, Friends Day is the second most popular day after Christmas and New Year. Every year, around five million cards are sent by Finns on Valentine’s Day. In recent years, with the development of new technologies, postcards are often supplemented by electronic messages and text messages via mobile phone.
Once all the Finnish cinemas in the capital on the Day of friends announced the action “One ticket for two” – one ticket you could go to the cinema with a friend or girlfriend.