On 14 February, loved ones celebrate Valentine’s Day by exchanging chocolate, flowers, and gifts; however, this celebration in Egypt is quite unique.
Egyptians always tend to exchange gifts that have a unique Egyptian flavour. The trend this year is to create gifts representing the most famous couples from Egyptian series and plays as well as gifts inspired by Egyptian Folklore.
Rather than the basic symbols of love, this year, gift-selling pages on Facebook are filled with advertisements for the sale of Valentine’s Shisha that are decorated in red and heart shapes. Shisha, or hookah, is Egypt’s version of smoking tobacco through a water bowl with a hose or tube.
‘Kollet hobna’ or ‘our love’s urn’ is also one of this year’s unique gifts. The gift is inspired by a line from a famous Egyptian comedy play titled ‘Al-Motazawegoon’ (‘The Married Couple’), where the heroine associates her love for her new husband to simple household items.
There is also a ‘Box of Abdel Ghafour Al-Borai’, which contains any gift chosen by customers, representing the most popular couple from the Egyptian series “Lan A’eish fi Gilbab Aby” (‘I Won’t Live in My Father’s Robes’). Al-Borai was a rich self-made merchant, and his wife Fatma was the one supporting him.
These gifts dominated the market this year along with chocolate bouquets, leaving the famous red teddy bears in second rank.
Also, among the new gifts this year is a three storey Kit-Kat cake and tin cans that can be filled with any gift a customer may choose.
