Coined by Amy Poehler's Lesley Knope in Parks and Recreation and falling on the day before Valentine's, Galentine's Day has fast become an unofficial day marking the importance of female friendship - so fast, in fact, that Pinterest has seen a 1780 percent increase in users saving Galentine's ideas since this time last year.
Semi-embarrassing name aside, any opportunity to celebrate the most important women in our lives is definitely something we can get on board with, single or not. As Ms. Knope puts it, it's a day when 'my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home and we just come and kick it.'
Because Galentines are just as (if not more) important than Valentines, we've rounded up some of the best ways you can celebrate with your best friends on February 13th and beyond...
Learn how to dance like Beyoncé and Gaga
What better way to celebrate female friendship than by spending an evening learning the entire dance routine to Beyoncé and Lady Gaga's 2010 hit 'Telephone'? We like to think of Drink Shop Do's two-hour class as a more sophisticated and structured alternative to copying Youtube routines in your living room (and less likely to rile your basement neighbours, too). There's also a belly dancing class on the same night, if shaking your hips like Shakira is more your thing.
13th February, 8.30pm-10.30pm. Drink Shop Do, 9 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9DX. £15. www.drinkshopdo.com
Embrace your inner artist
If you and your best friend have known each other since time began (or, at least, the early 90s), the odds are high that you attended one of those pottery painting parties that were so in vogue with the primary school set. You can relive your artistic heyday at the Pottery Café (which has outposts in Battersea and Fulham, though you'll find similar venues all across the country), where you can paint anything from plates and cups to jolly novelty piggy banks. Once you're finished, staff will glaze and fire your creation, ready for pick up later in the week.
153 Northcote Road, SW11, 020 7223 3388 and 735 Fulham Road, SW6,020 7736 2157, www.pottery-cafe.com
Head back to Oz
Even the most avowed musical haters have been known to be won over by the emerald green charms of Wicked, the Wizard of Oz prequel that tells the story of two very different witches, setting the scene for Dorothy's jaunt down the Yellow Brick Road. An all-singing, all-dancing celebration of female friendship against the odds, it's the perfect trip for Galentine's (or Valentine's, or any day of the year). We defy you (sorry) leave the theatre without shedding even the tiniest of tears.
Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, SW1V 1LG, 0844 871 3991. www.wickedthemusical.co.uk
Have a feminist(ish) film marathon
If you'd rather your Galentines (or anti-Valentines) plans were low-key (read: inexpensive), the simplest option involves a sofa, a friend, a streaming account and our edit of the best films and TV shows about female friendship. As well as classics like Thelma and Louise and Beaches, nostalgic Noughties fodder like Bend It Like Beckham, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and erm, Britney's Crossroads (an underappreciated gem featuring Kim Cattrall), we'd also recommend Greta Gerwig's Frances Ha and The Edge of Seventeen (a millenial Mean Girls, but slightly less mean). Failing that, there's always Gilmore Girls...
Get red carpet-worthy hair
Clichés tend to become clichés because they're actually true, and it's hard to deny that good hair days tend to be good days, full stop. Head to Duck & Dry's newly opened Market Palace salon with your best friend for the sort of blow dry that'll leave you with shampoo-ad hair for days. Found just off Oxford Circus, the interiors (including a wall of plants, exposed brickwork and egg-shaped styling 'pods') are perfect Instagram fodder, with a prosecco bar thrown in for good measure.
Duck & Dry, 28 Market Place, W1W 8AW, 020 3489 9370. www.duckanddry.com
Bring the spa to you
Lovely as a spa trip may be, finding the time to schedule in your day of relaxation can often be stressful enough to make the whole thing an entirely counter-productive endeavour. That's where the next generation of on-demand beauty services comes in, bringing all the comfort of the spa or salon to your sitting room at the tap of a smartphone screen. With London Zones one to three, CitySwish offers everything from mani-pedis to hair styling and massage (they'll bring the table...) Just download the app, gather your friends and book a slot.
Try disco yoga
Having a gym buddy makes you 99 percent less likely to ditch your well-made workout plans for a more enticing but less virtuous offer - and who could turn down the prospect of disco yoga? Each hour-long session promises all the de-stressing benefits of a conventional yoga class, but with a soundtrack of Diana Ross, Donna Summer and Chic replacing the usual pan pipes and whale sounds. Included in your ticket price is a free cocktail or mocktail to enjoy afterwards. Disco has never felt so zen...
14th February, 7.30pm-8.30pm. Trapeze Bar, 89 Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3HX. 15th February, 7pm-9pm, Century Club Soho. www.discoyoga.uk From £15.