Hands up who loves Friday night?

What’s not to love about a Friday night? We all have our regular wind down routines that make reaching the end of the week such a joy.

Happy roommates having fun while spending their time together in the living room. Two of them are watching TV while other two are dancing.

What’s not to love about a Friday night? We all have our regular wind down routines that make reaching the end of the week such a joy.

Easily the most popular night of the week, Friday nights really are all they’re cracked up to be. It is the one day of the week that unites us, no matter your religion, political persuasion, gender or sexuality. Friday night is celebrated across Australia as the end of the working week, the start of the glorious weekend and the longest break between work and the dreaded Monday morning.

There are of course those brave souls who work night shifts or on Saturday mornings, but when they get Friday night off, they too join in the celebrations. So infectious and ingrained is the relief of the end of the traditional working week into our collective consciousness that when a free Friday night rolls around, the feel-good vibes return instantly. They don’t call it Fri-yay for nothing.

It also helps that Friday night rituals are always there for the taking whether you prefer staying at home or going out. For the going out set, Friday nights are all about drinks after work with friends or colleagues, watching a live band at the local pub or heading out for dinner, a movie or a show. It’s all about taking the time to depressurise and revelling in the knowledge that bars and restaurants are open until their latest possible times. Have you ever heard of a bar that stays open until midnight on Mondays but closes at 9pm on Fridays? Didn’t think so.

Others prefer escaping to the quiet solitude of their own homes after a busy working week commuting, catching public transport, dealing with the boss, dealing with staff, dealing with customers or clients, dealing with the barista who stuffed up your coffee order three times in a row this week and otherwise dealing with the demands of everyday life. Maybe it’s a bath by candlelight, a glass of wine on the back deck, rolling out the yoga mat or ordering your favourite take-away and settling in for a night of non-stop Netflix.

Of course none of these things are exclusive to Friday nights, but there is no escaping the truth, winding down is always more satisfying on a Friday.

Let’s examine the days of the week more carefully, shall we? Mondays are the start of the dreaded work week, the first day back from your otherwise magical weekend.

Tuesdays come after Monday, and are still far too close to the start of the week to be anything than a fraction better than the day before, although by now you’ve accepted you’re in this thing until the end.

Wednesday is hump day, when you’re only halfway through the working week and still have the same amount of work hours ahead of you as you do behind you. Alas, Thursday comes bringing hope and promise that all your hard work will soon pay off and there’s only one more day to go.

Friday morning comes and the finish line is in sight. With a spring in your step you make it through the day.

For families, Friday nights are all about coming together again. Maybe it’s pizza and a movie, or watching the kids play in the front yard while having a drink with the neighbours, or perhaps an Antipodean passaggiata – the European ritual of a leisurely evening stroll for the purpose of mingling with the neighbours.

Queenslanders Alicia and Imran love doing exactly that on Friday nights on the street where they live in one of Villa World’s master-planned communities in Queensland.

“We go for walks and interact with the neighbours that we see. We love getting to know people in our neighbourhood,” Alicia says. “We enjoy the sense of comradery that comes with being homeowners and we like the personalities of the neighbours we have met so far.”

Although they only moved in May this year, they have already made lots of friends and are getting to know more and more people each week.

“It is definitely important to us to know our neighbours and get along because it creates a sense of security, friendliness and happiness,” Imran says.

At Villa World communities residents can often be found sharing a Friday night get together, whether taking the kids for a playdate at the park and firing up the communal barbecue, sharing a beer on the front lawn, or where firm friendships have been formed, inviting one another over for a relaxed dinner on the back deck.

Robyn Valmadre, Villa World general manager of sales and marketing, says Villa World communities are developed to help these kinds of neighbourly interactions happen naturally.

“Today our customers are telling us they really want to be part of closer knit communities where everyone looks out for each other. Villa World have taken this feedback and made it the core of its planning philosophy,” she says.

So, what are you doing this Friday night?

Originally published as Hands up who loves Friday night?