Overview

Galentine's Day is a fictitious holiday created in the sitcom Parks and Recreation which celebrates women and female friendships and takes place February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day. After the episode featuring the holiday aired, the event has gained increasing prominence online on February 13th each year since.

Background

The Parks and Recreation episode "Galentine's Day" aired February 11th, 2010.^[1] During the episode, the protagonist, Leslie Knope, holds a party for her girlfriends, single or not, in which they hang out, exchange gifts, and celebrate their friendships.

Developments

The holiday began seeing significant spread online in 2012. That year, Bitchmedia^[2] covered the holiday, listing some examples of Galentine's Day celebrations posted online, including a Tumblr^[3] post in which user lethifolds posted images of gifts and waffles they'd made for their own friends modeled after the Parks and Recreation episode (examples shown below).

With each subsequent year, the holiday saw increased media and corporate attention. Buzzfeed^[4] compiled a list of "Galentine's Day Cards" in 2013. The same day, a definition for the holiday was submitted to Urban Dictionary. ^[5]

Other publications to offer Galentine's Day tips include The Atlantic,^[6] NPR,^[7] and Mashable.^[8] The New York Post^[9] ran an op-ed condemning the day. Corporations also began capitalizing on the holiday by pushing products and sales tailored for the event (examples shown below).

Cast Reunion

On Galentine's Day 2018, Parks and Recreation actress Aubrey Plaza posted a picture of female members of the cast reuniting for the occasion, gaining over 282,000 likes (shown below). The photograph was covered by Daily Dot,^[10] EW,^[11] Huffington Post,^[12] and others.

Search Interest

External References