ALSO OBSERVED ON FEBRUARY 14

The association between February 14 and Valentine’s Day may be well-known all over the world (so much so that February is widely recognized as the “Love Month”), but this doesn’t mean that nothing else is happening on the fourteenth day of the second month of a given year. Here’s a roundup on other special days that’re also observed every February 14. International Book Giving Day

Initiated by Amy Broadmoore, the founder of the USA-based Delightful Children’s Books and The Curious Kid’s Librarian, International Book Giving Day is all about getting new, used and borrowed books into the hands of many children as possible. On this day, everyone is encouraged to do what they can to help organizations that specialize in book donation drives, in a bid to curb issues pertaining to reading literacy and comprehension among young learners. First observed in 2012, the organization responsible for the day changed hands in 2013 when Broadmoore handed its reins to Emma Perry, the founder of the children’s book site My Book Corner. As a volunteer-driven initiative, it has been observed in more than forty countries since 2013.

World Bonobo Day

Bonobos are widely regarded as the “make love not war” apes, and for this reason, World Bonobo Day is observed on February 14. Also known as pygmy chimpanzees, bonobos were once considered a subspecies of chimpanzees, but this changed in 1933 when they were acknowledged as their own species. Inhabiting regions south of the Congo River, these apes are primarily herbivores, but do occasionally consume insects and small mammals like bats and flying squirrels. World Bonobo Day is devoted to spread awareness about them, and educate people of the many threats they face as a species.

World Sound Healing Day

Every year on February 14, practitioners of the sound healing movement join together at noon to hum the heart sound “AH” for a minimum of five minutes, with the intention of channeling and spreading the virtue of love. The brainchild of Jonathan Goldman, the founder of the US Sound Healers Association, the day was first observed in 2002, and has become a global movement that has more people from different countries participate every year. This year, the day’s observance primarily consists of various virtual events, the details and schedules of which are accessible via the worldsoundhealing. org site.

Library Lovers’ Day

The story behind the popularity of Library Lovers’ Day is somewhat tied to February 14’s association with Valentine’s Day. Initiated in Australia in 2006 by the State Library of New South Wales, the day was originally conceptualized as part of a campaign that aimed to bring attention to the many services that’re offered by libraries. It, however, gained a following in the view that libraries served as a “place of solace” for those without dates on February 14, and in 2007 it became a nationally observed holiday in Australia. In time, it became a globally observed holiday which largely focuses on the learning resources and potentials that can be had in libraries.

The Lui-Ngai-Ni Festival in India

Observed on February 14 and 15, the Lui-Ngai-Ni festival is a centuries-old tradition that entails the sowing of new seeds as a means to jumpstart a year of bountiful harvests. The tradition is spearheaded by the leaders of the Naga tribe in the North East region of India, and the festival brings together around forty minor tribes in a ritual that invokes the god of crops to bless their crops. The name of the festival stems from different tribal words that translate to “seed sowing festival”. ‘Lui’ translates tp ‘sowing festival’ in Tangkhul; ‘Ngai’ means ‘festival’ in Rongmei; and ‘Ni’ stems from the Mao language. The Naga tribe renamed the festival as such in 1987 as proof of the united front of the Naga tribe which came together in the late 1990s.

Quirkyalone Day

Quirkyalone Day is love-related holiday that was founded to celebrate true romance – not the watered-down version that has been made crass and commercialized by Valentine’s Day marketers and brands.

Initially founded in 2003 by writer Sasha Cagen (who wrote the book “Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics”), the idea behind the day is to normalize the idea of people preferring to be single, as opposed to indiscriminately dating.

The official Quirkyalone Facebook page defines quirkyalone as “a person who enjoys being single (or spending time alone) and so prefers to wait for the right person to come along rather than dating for the sake of dating,” and the day is largely about normalizing this view.

The day is not exactly anti-Valentine’s Dayoriented, as it focuses on self-worth as the keystone that ultimately shapes how happy one can be in one’s relationship status.