What’s Galentine’s Day?

“Oh, it’s only the best day of the year,” said Leslie Knope, the fictional deputy director of the imaginary Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department, portrayed by Amy Poehler on “Parks and Recreation” 16 years ago this week. “Every Feb. 13, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home and we just come and kick it — breakfast. Ladies celebrating ladies.”

Experience Butler County has three events on its calendar for this year’s celebration — starting with a Galentine’s Day Movie Bash tonight.

The Penn Theater, at 161 N. Main St. in Butler, will feature a special screening of “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” with signature Galentine’s cocktails and concessions, special photo-op backdrops, giveaways and surprises at 6 p.m. Ticket prices range from $15 for an individual front-row seat to $400 for a premium suite seating up to 20 for the Thursday event.

Woods Lane & Co. at 106 S. Main St. in Zelienople has planned a Galentine’s hat bar workshop for 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13.

For $80, gals age 16 and older can burn custom designs — like florals, Aztec designs, moons, leaves, animal prints and script writing — onto a vegan suede rancher hat. They can use ribbons, lace, feathers and other items from the hat bar to decorate their hats while enjoying sweets, wine and each other’s company.

The Shops on West Diamond in Butler will host an after-hours celebration of Galentine’s Day with a Vampire Val-o-ween Party to embrace “the mysterious, the romantic and the slightly spooky” since the event falls on Friday the 13th.

For $15, gals can enjoy vampire-inspired herbal mocktails, charcuterie, shopping after dark and a festive night to celebrate friendship. Ladies are encouraged to dress “vampy” if they’d like and to bring their friends, their curiosity and love for all things “a little unconventional.”

When the Leslie Knope character created Galentine’s Day 16 years ago, it was born to rebuff conventional Valentine’s Day traditions in a way. It was intended to give women a chance to spend time together, celebrating their friendships and not letting the societal pressures of having a romantic relationship on the overly commercialized holiday of Valentine’s Day get them down.

Sure, it was a sitcom gimmick initially, but its intent was to show women showering each other with gifts, praise and attention — something women don’t always take time out of their busy schedules to do for one another.

Now several major retailers like Target, Walmart, Amazon and Etsy offer Galentine’s-themed merchandise, and tips on how to throw the perfect party for your friends and endless articles can be found online about how to value your female friendships properly on this special day.

Galentine’s Day is just a fun way to remember it’s important to celebrate all of the types of love in your life.

— KL