Why is Valentine's Day Celebrated?

February only means one thing: Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. It may not be everyone’s favorite holiday nor the most popular, but give us a chance to celebrate something, and we will jump on board. 

Even if for decades Valentine’s Day has been associated with couples, this time we want to celebrate all kinds of loves and relationships. Friendship, couples, and, in our case, the day-to-day relationship we have with our lovely customers. Truth is, we put a lot of love into HookSounds, so we want to spread it with a special discount of 25% off on subscriptions.

We’ve also created a collection of royalty free music for this Valentine’s Day!

By now, most people might be familiar with Valentine’s Day. You may know it is celebrated on February 14th, but do you know where it originated from? You may be surprised to know that ancient Romans already celebrated this day, well sort of. 

Where did Valentine’s Day came from?

The holiday has its origin in a Roman festival called Lupercalia, which was held in mid-February. This festival was a celebration for the coming of spring, and one thing we know for sure is that the Romans knew how to throw a party. Even if it was celebrating an upcoming season, the festival included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery. Shocking, but then again, the Romans were very extra when it came to parties.

At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I wanted to put some order and replace Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day. But it wasn’t until the 14th century that it came to be celebrated as a day of romance.

Now you may wonder, who is the original Saint Valentine? There are many legends about who he actually was. Some say the day may have taken its name from a priest who was martyred. According to the legend, the priest signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended and apparently healed from blindness. Telenovelas would only aspire to be that dramatic.

Others say that it was St. Valentine of Terni, a bishop, though it is possible the two saints were actually the same person. Another common legend states that St. Valentine defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war. 

Now, let’s get to the other big Valentine’s Day personality: Cupid, aka that little guy we see so often on Valentine’s cards holding an arrow. Again, let’s trace back to the Romans, as Cupid was the god of love. According to Roman history, Cupid has wings because lovers are flighty and likely to change their minds, and with boy features because love is irrational. His symbols are the arrow and torch because love can hurt but also inflames the heart.

Why Valentine’s Day is celebrated

History aside, there are some who affirm that Valentine’s Day was created by Hallmark, the American company dedicated to creating greeting cards. Thing is that Valentine’s Day is nowadays one of the most celebrated holidays and, like with any other, there’s a whole business around it. 

Commercially printed cards have been traced back to the late 1700s and the first commercial Valentine’s cards in the United States were printed in the mid-1800s. Nowadays, we can see these everywhere as soon as February starts. Flowers, chocolates and heart-shaped objects are also huge during this period. But even when cards and messages fail to reflect our feelings, there’s music to save us all.

Of course, romantic songs exist beyond this holiday, but that’s the great thing about love, there’s no need to celebrate it just once a year. But just like it happens with Christmas music, it is near February 14th that suddenly it feels like love is all around. “Unchained Melody”, “When a man loves a woman” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” are some of the best Valentine’s songs of all time. And of course, we can’t talk about Valentine’s Day without mentioning some romance queens like Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.

If you are looking for romantic instrumental Music, we got you covered on our selection of royalty free music that will make you see hearts all around. Among our tracks, you will find everything from soft romantic music to emotional and relaxing piano music. Just scroll around and listen!

Also, don’t forget that we have 25% off on subscriptions for a limited time!