Galentine’s Day Shows Staying Power of Festivus

Amy Poehler presents Galentine's Day! (photo by GabboTvia Wikimedia Commons)

Galentine’s Day — the quirky invention of Leslie Knope (the great Amy Poehler) on Parks and Recreation during Season 6 — is trending again on Valentine’s Day week 2017, proving Galentine’s has serious staying power after debuting in 2014. What is Galentine’s Day? Well pretty simply it’s a much more fun, much more useful celebration than Valentine’s Day. It occurs the day before the commercialized, saccharine Valentine’s Day and it’s when you get your Gals together — friends, relatives, colleagues, whoever. No pressure, just joy, and relaxation. And nothing to do with Zales or “Every Kiss Begins With Kay.”

Galentine’s Day, depending on your individual style, also includes huge amounts of eating stuff you love. Bad for you stuff, if you wish. And generally doing whatever you feel like, especially dancing, if that’s your thing. The last TV show holiday invention to find real celebrants throughout the globe was the enduring Jerry Seinfeld invention Festivus, made indelible by Frank Costanza himself, Jerry Stiller. In TV heaven, the fact that comedy superstars Jerry Stiller and Amy Poehler gave the world to brand new holidays is celebrated every day.