Where will you be celebrating Valentine’s Day with your partner?
By Mohalenyane Phakela
MASERU – It is Valentine’s Day tomorrow — a time when couples spoil each other with gifts, romantic getaways or dinner in fancy restaurants to celebrate the love they share. The question is where will you be with your partner?
Maseru chill-out spot, Café 72, will have Rhythm-and-Blues sensations, Lorenzo and Majisto, showering guests with love songs in line with the theme of the day.
“Love songs instil that special mood whenever one is listening to them. It will be more romantic listening and dancing to them with your partner as you enjoy the Valentine’s dinner package and the drinks,” Lorenzo told the Weekender this week.
“The performances will be followed by a karaoke slot where people will be given the opportunity to sing to their partners in public just to show them how special they are.
“There is that feeling inside that one can only express in a song or those words that make greater impact when there is rhythm accompanying them.”
Notto be outdone, Ster-Kinekor, at the Pioneer Mall will be screening a romantic movie, Best Man’s Holiday (a sequel to the 1999 film, The Best Man), serving wine and snacks to the guests.
According to the cinema’s projectionist, Nthabana Motsoari, the event is meant to “show people that they can treat their partners to movies”.
“We believe it is more romantic when two people who love each other watch a movie together, either romance or comedy.
“The movie we have selected is a romantic comedy, so it will both serve the love purpose of Valentine’s Day, whilst guests crack their ribs too.
“To wrap-up the show, there will be a motivational sermon by Pastor Calvin Motebang on how to keep the love spark alive,” he said.
Brief history of Valentine’s Day
The origins of Valentine’s Day trace back to the ancient Roman celebration of Lupercalia. Held on February 15, Lupercalia honoured the gods Lupercus and Faunus, as well as the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
In addition to a bountiful feast, Lupercalia festivities are purported to have included the pairing of young women and men. Men would draw women’s names from a box, and each couple would be paired until next year’s celebration.
While this pairing of couples set the tone for today’s holiday, it wasn’t called “Valentine’s Day” until a priest named Valentine came along.
Valentine, a romantic at heart, disobeyed Emperor Claudius II’s decree that soldiers remain bachelors. Claudius handed down this decree believing that soldiers would be distracted and unable to concentrate on fighting if they were married or engaged. Valentine defied the emperor and secretly performed marriage ceremonies. As a result of his defiance, Valentine was put to death on February 14.
After Valentine’s death, he was named a saint. As Christianity spread through Rome, the priests moved Lupercalia from February 15 to February 14 and renamed it St Valentine’s Day to honour Saint Valentine.
