Dragobete, The Romanian Valentine’s Day
While the rest of the world celebrates love on the 14th of February, in Romania we celebrate it on the 24th of February, a day called Dragobete. The holiday is deeply rooted in Romanian folklore and the legend behind it is very interesting. There are different versions of the story, so I picked the one that I used to hear as a young girl.
Dragobete was the son of Baba Dochia, a mythological figure associated with the arrival of spring. In the legend, when he was born, four fairies gifted him the most special presents. The first one was the Spring, who gave him love. The second was Summer, who gave him the sweetness of fruits and the warmth of love. The third one, Autumn, gifted him a whistle to make people happy with his songs. The last one, Winter, gave him a white coat with a diamond glow. With these gifts, Dragobete could seduce every girl that would cross his path. His cheerful spirit and playful nature made him very popular with the young women, who would eagerly wait for his arrival, so he became the symbol of love.
The customs and traditions of this day are not very far from the ones for Valentine’s Day: couples exchange gifts, flowers and do nice gestures of love and affections. Traditionally, Dragobete is also a day for single people to find their significant other, and it is said that those who find love on Dragobete will have a happy and prosperous life together. In some areas, people choose this day to celebrate their engagement. Far back in the days, Romanian girls had the tradition of gathering the snow left from winter, called “the snow of fairies”. The water resulted from melting was considered to have magical love and beauty properties. The girls would wash their face in the morning with this water and it was believed that they would stay as beautiful as the fairies.
The one special tradition of this day is that couples cannot have any disagreements or fights, or else they would have a spring full of bad luck. They need to be happy so they would be blessed with love all year round. Overall, Dragobete is a joyous and festive holiday that celebrates the coming of spring and the power of love, a day that reminds everyone to be nice to each other, appreciate the important persons in their life, and celebrate the small, but significant moments.
Do you have any similar holiday in your country? If so, let us know about it on the Living abroad forum!