After several days of hype on various platforms, the much-anticipated Valentine's Day did not live up to expectations on Nairobi's streets.

Unlike previous years, when red tents dotted the city streets with flowers and goodies for sale, the situation was different on Tuesday.

The Standard conducted a spot check and discovered that only a few areas of the upper Central Business District had been reserved for such activities.

Similarly, the majority of city centre workers avoided the traditional red attire associated with Valentine's Day, which is observed around the world.

Many of those polled blamed the low mood of the day on tough economic times and rising living costs, opting to ignore it entirely.

"I would rather buy a packet of cooking flour than spend money on expensive flowers; people used to observe the day years ago, but the tradition is slowly dying," Margaret Mwendwa, a trader on Mama Ngina Street, observed.