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Hate Valentine’s Day? Find refuge at one of these events…

Image: CarbonNYC via Flickr/Creative Commons

HATE VALENTINE’S DAY? Maybe you’re happily single and not in the market for a partner, or you’re ensconced in a relationship where you lavish praise on your other half on more than just one day of the year.

Or maybe you think that Valentine’s Day is a load of sentimental muck cooked up to sell cards and chocolates…

Whatever the reason, there are plenty of alternative ways to spend tomorrow night that don’t involved packed restaurants or over-priced flowers.

  • Go people hunting

If you think love sucks, then head to the Project Arts Centre in 39 East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Temple Bar tomorrow from 5.30pm to 8pm to forget romance and have fun with Love Sucks, two interactive games from Make and Do. This involves two games: Love at First Sight, where players try to seduce as many partners as they can (don’t worry – it’s a game, you won’t need to really seduce anyone); and Peoplehunt, which is a smartphone icebreaker game (bring your iphone for this one) by Crowdscanner. Find out more here.

  • Watch an Emile Zola film

What says ‘I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day’ better than watching an adaptation of an Émile Zola film about a priest who is in love with his friend’s wife and turns into a vampire after a failed medical experiment? Thirst, written, produced and directed by Park Chan-wook, can be watched in Seomra Spraoi tomorrow from 8pm – 10pm. For some post-Valentine’s Day highjinks, head to Seomra Spraoi on Thursday, February 16, 7pm – 10pm where the Vegan Workers Coop Cafe will host a Love Sick Cafe and Vegan Clothes Swap Disco from 6.30pm – 9pm.

  • Eat something unusual

If a standard restaurant is not your thing, bring your loved one – or just yourself – to Edible at the Science Gallery.  The special Valentine’s Day event is not your usual lovefest, as it focuses on genetics and beauty and sexual selection. By the latter, they don’t mean picking out a person in a club. You’ll even get to tuck into a tasty buffet, which will definitely get you in the Edible mood.

  • Watch Liam Neeson battle some wolves

If Valentine’s Day makes you want to hole yourself up in a darkened room, why not make that room a cinema and head to your local to watch Ireland’s own Liam Neeson battle some wolves in The Grey. This film is as anti-romantic as they come: a plane packed with oil-drillers crashes in a remote part of Alaska… in the middle of territory ‘owned’ by wolves. Fighting between man and wolf ensues.

  • Watch a match

You’re guaranteed to find very few couples watching a match when they could be at a restaurant making googly-eyes at each other. And we’d venture there won’t be much romance when the night’s Champions League games get underway. Find your local guys and gals watching the match and feel the passion of the moment when Lyon play APOEL and Leverkusen come up against Barcelona – both games kick off at 7.45pm.

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Comments (15 Comments)

  • jimbo 13/02/12 #
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    boring!!

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  • Popsicle Pete 13/02/12 #
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    Or you could just get drunk and wallow in self-pity like me.

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  • Poppy 13/02/12 #
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    Valentines day is very painful & lonely for some, especially if you’ve lost your loved one or are just simply on your own. I’m dreading it as it reminds me of what I no longer have in my life :-(

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    • John Murphy 13/02/12 #
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      Poppy. I was going to say something ‘smart’ but you made me think again. Now all I can do is be an auld sop and wish you a happy Valentines Day!

    • Poppy 13/02/12 #
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      Thank you John x

    • John Murphy 13/02/12 #
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      Awwww xx :-)

    • Gordon Lucas 13/02/12 #
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      Sorry for you loss.

    • Poppy 14/02/12 #
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      Thanks guys for the kind replies :-)
      Sometimes something as simple as a kind word or a smile from a stranger can change the course of your day. So I’m gonna get my “feel sorry for myself ass” outta bed and do something fun & positive today !
      @ John Murphy….I’ll never look at a hen the way again !!! No more KFC’s for me 

    • John Murphy 15/02/12 #
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      Hey Poppy
      I remember my old Dad used to sing a song called ‘One Kind Word’ and the first line went: ‘One kind word may save a heart from breaking…’ To my shame I never learned the rest of it, but the thought stayed with me. Hope you enjoyed your day. So did I!

  • Michael Manson 13/02/12 #
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    Just another event to motivate you to part with your cash.
    My wife and I have agreed to cut out the spending crap. As in cards for an average of 5 Euro, softy toy (made in china) 10 Euro.
    We are going out for a romantic evening. Not to celebrate Valentines day but to enjoy each others company.

    Reply
    • Jay funk 13/02/12 #
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      5 euro a card, get real a shop on middle abbey st has them for 39cent and nothing say how much I love you like a 39cent card

  • Dan Griffin 13/02/12 #
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    Tomorrow is Tuesday, TUESDAY! Get it! and you can make a card if you so desire, flowers grow wild and free and chocolate, I don’t no you will have to work that one out for yourself. No such thing as love just a fear of being alone! And incase you forgot the day after is WEDNESDAY!

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  • Gordon Lucas 13/02/12 #
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    I’m so lucky to have my partner – she doesn’t like valentine’s day either, so we never celebrated it.

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  • sarah 14/02/12 #
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    You forgot the last option… Do what you normally do on a Tuesday it’s just another day!

    Reply

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