Paper short abstract

The paper outlines the changes in St. Valentine’s Day celebrations in Estonia from 1980 to 2014. Today, Valentine’s Day stands both as a day celebrating friendship as well as being in love, and accordingly the customs are varied.

Paper long abstract

The paper outlines the changes in St. Valentine's Day celebrations in Estonia from 1980 to 2014. Valentine's Day, called also Friendship Day, reached Estonia in the late 1980s. At the time, the holiday in western Europe and America celebrated love, engagement and marriage. However, to Estonia the holiday was introduced as a day to remember your close ones and friends.

The 21st century saw a breakthrough in media influence and commercialisation. Self-made gifts (cards, small objects; so-called friendship markets; friendship post boxes; friendship signs) saw competition from international commercial postcards and designed sweets. Also, a definite shift towards emotionally bonded couples is seen in customs of eating out, etc.

Today, Valentine's Day stands both as a day celebrating friendship as well as being in love, and accordingly the customs are varied.