Hello local guides,
This is the month of July, and we are already celebrating it as our Connect portal’s 8th anniversary month. To conclude, we have a very special day, International Friendship Day.
International Friendship Day is observed on July 30 to celebrate friendships that go beyond borders, countries, and cultures. Although the significance of the day is well known to all, let’s check out some significant and fascinating facts that add to the greater significance of the celebration.
Paraguayan origin: Unlike many other worldwide festivities that originated in the US or Europe, this International Friendship Day originated in South America. It is believed that Paraguay observed this day for the first time in 1958, emphasizing the value of friendship to all people.
United Nations Recognition: In 1998, the United Nations designated Winnie the Pooh as the global ambassador for friendship. However, finally, in 2011, the UN formally declared July 30th as International Friendship Day. Promoting global peace and understanding was the fundamental goal of that. They believed that the best way to promote harmony and goodwill was to emphasize the importance of friendship.
Global Involvement: Friendship Day is observed on various days throughout the world. For instance, Indians celebrate it on the first Sunday in August, while Finland, Mexico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Estonia celebrate it as part of Valentine’s Day, February 14th, highlighting friendship along with romantic love. In Singapore and South Africa, its in April. Ukrainians celebrate it in June, and in July, Ecuador, Nepal, Pakistan, Bolivia, and many other South American countries celebrate it.
Cultural Celebrations: On Friendship Day, individuals from all walks of life engage in a range of social events. For example, friends exchange colorful friendship bands in India and, nowadays, almost everywhere. On the other hand, this day is celebrated in the US by exchanging greeting cards, gifts, and get-togethers. It is well known that the major greeting card brand, Hallmark, has been instrumental in spreading awareness of Friendship Day throughout the country.
Social media’s influence: Friendship Day events have increased significantly as a result of social media. A growing number of posts, hashtags, and messages on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are dedicated to friends, causing a global online craze. For the first time ever, Twitter, also known as “X,” has observed hashtag friendship day on social media.
Philanthropic Aspect: Many organizations and groups use International Friendship Day to emphasize the idea that friendship may lead to a better and more caring society in order to promote supporting others and community service.
Effects of Movies: Many movies have well-known friendships between the main performers and the supporting cast. Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa from The Lion King, Woody and Buz Lightyear from Toy Story, and Baloo and Mowgli from The Jungle Book are a few examples. Jai and Veeru in Sholay, Akash, Sameer, and Siddharth in Dil Chahta Hai, Munna Bhai, and Circuit in Lage Raho Munna Bhai are some of the iconic friendships shown in Indian Bollywood movies.
These lesser-known but significant facts about International Friendship Day emphasize its global significance and the universal values of friendship, kindness, and understanding it promotes. Possibly with simple gestures or grand celebrations, the day is a reminder of the powerful connections that friendship generates in our lives.
How we, as loca guides, can contribute:
We are very lucky to have this platform to connect with each other globally—literally every day! We all have unique and meaningful ways to honor the day, emphasizing the spirit of friendship through our shared passion for discovery and connection. The various types of meet-ups are a great way to express and connect with others on this day.
In-person meet-ups: Such events are the ideal way to connect people who are passionate about mapping and exploration. We can organize events like food walks, photo walks, and social occasions to highlight the distinctive beauty of the local area. These informal gatherings help like-minded people make new friends and offer a forum for sharing advice and experiences.
Virtual meet-ups: In today’s digital age, distance is not a barrier to celebration. We connect virtually through video calls and online events, sharing our experiences and celebrating our global friendships. We can also conduct online mapping challenges, technical trainings, share their favorite local spots through photo walks, or simply enjoy each other’s company, regardless of their physical location.
Community contributions and awareness drives: Friendship Day inspires us to give back to our communities. We can organize clean-up drives, support local businesses, or contribute to charitable causes. By working together for a common good cause, we reinforce the values of friendship and community spirit.
Sharing posts on our portal: We can celebrate by sharing our friendship stories on social media platforms and the Connect portal. We can share some of our travel adventures with friends, food and parties at our favorite locations, recipes of our newly learned or favorite dishes, and how we enjoyed and discovered various cultural aspects of our journey. By doing so, we inspire others to explore, connect, and contribute. We also go and post our comments in the posts we like while going through the portal as routine. This indirectly generates a chain reaction of appreciation, and we start communicating, which ends up in the good friendship of like-minded local guides.
The power of shared experiences and the friendships that blossom from the simple act of traveling and charting the world together are demonstrated on International Friendship Day. For us, the local guides’ community, it is a day to commemorate the friendships they make along the journey as well as the locations we explore.
Well, then, here is the fun part. I suggest you all share your thoughts on Friendship Day, considering any three of the following points in the comment below:
- Share one beautiful memory with your friends.
- Have you ever had a particularly memorable guiding experience where a friend played a key role? Share the story!
- Do you have any creative ideas on how we can further utilize the platform to build a stronger Local Guides community based on friendship?
- Share the best photo with your friends if possible from your collection in the comments; we will show it in the meet-up or post it in the recap.
We have our Friendship Day meet-up scheduled for Sunday, August 4, at 7 PM IST by Indian local guides and hosted by @Viranchi and co-hosted by @SaylliWalve1 . This is there first meet-up, and we all should come together and cheer them up! We want you all to join us, enjoy the time together, and share your thoughts on it.
Cheers!
