Grab your BFFs, it’s Galentine’s Day!
Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation character, Leslie Knope, invented the holiday in 2010 to celebrate sisterhood one day before Valentine’s Day every February — and fans are still toasting their gal pals annually. (Us Weekly has a look at the very best scenes from the comedy above.)
“What’s Galentine’s Day? It’s only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style,” Leslie explained during season 2, episode 16 of Parks and Rec, which first aired in 2010. “Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus, frittatas.”
Leslie made sure to give her BFFs thoughtful gifts each year, including a “bouquet of hand-crocheted flower pens, a mosaic portrait for each of you made from the crushed bottles of your favorite diet soda and a personalized 5,000-word essay of why you are all so awesome.”
Poehler, meanwhile, revealed that she celebrates the special day with her own friends. “Female friendships are the most important thing in your life,” she shared in a February 2024 TikTok from the snowy streets of New York City. “The best thing about your friends is they know you better than anyone and they still want to hang out with you. Happy Galentine’s Day!”
The Parks and Recreation cast filled homes with laughs and love during its seven-season run on NBC, but since the show ended, fans have still been able to see their favorite faces from the group in a slew of high-profile projects. Amy Poehler (Leslie Knope), Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson), Aziz Ansari (Tom Haverford), Adam Scott […]
When she can, Poehler reunites with fellow Parks and Rec alums to toast the holiday. “I’m having dinner after the show with Rashida Jones, Aubrey Plaza and Kathryn Hahn,” the actress revealed during a February 2020 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “I don’t think there has to be [gifts], but Leslie Knope did [give them].” (Jones played Ann Perkins, Plaza played April Ludgate and Hanh portrayed Jennifer Barkely on the series.)
Poehler noted that it “kind of caught on as a fun fake holiday, just like Valentine’s Day, which is also a fake holiday.”
After host Jimmy Kimmel proposed a male version of the holiday, Poehler quipped: “I feel like men are so sensitive now, you could have your own Galentine’s Day version of it.”
That same month, Poehler confirmed during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show that she does “celebrate Galentine’s Day all the time.”
She joked: “If you’re gay then every Valentine’s Day is Galentine’s Day.” Kelly Clarkson replied, “Women are a good time. Gay or not, it’s a fun time.”
Poehler added, “I think it’s fun to make up your own holidays.”
Parks and Recreation aired for seven seasons from 2009 to 2015. The former NBC series is currently streaming on Peacock.
Watch the video above to relive the best Galentine’s Day moments!
