Singles Awareness Day (or Singles Appreciation Day) is celebrated on February 15 each year. It is an unofficial

holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or t ...

celebrated by single people. It serves as a complement to

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

for people who are single, and not

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

or in a romantic relationship. It is a celebration of love in all forms recognizing the love between friends, family and loving yourself. Some people who observe Singles Awareness Day do so out of spite for Valentine's Day, as a Hallmark holiday, or for other reasons. Singles awareness day is also referred to as an

antithesis Antithesis ( Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together ...

of Valentine's Day, especially when celebrated on February 14. The United Kingdom has two 'days' attributed to highlighting single status. Since Single Awareness Day spells SAD and a group of dating experts wanted to highlight a more positive tone, creating National Singles Day. It is celebrated on 11 March with the aim to empower those who identify themselves as single. It is unclear who is behind SAD in the UK. On Singles Awareness Day, single people gather to celebrate or to commiserate in their single status. Some want to remind romantic couples that they don't need to be in a relationship to celebrate life.

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