Seasons, harvest and the calendar
Customs tied to a season, a harvest, a moon or a day of the week.
Seasonal and calendar traditions follow the turning of the year: the first thaw, the monsoon, the harvest, the longest night, the new moon. They also follow the days of the week, with Friday prayers, Sunday roast and Monday fasts. Because these customs are tied to nature and time, they appear almost everywhere, though each place names and keeps them in its own way. EveryParampara links them to the live calendar, so that you can see what is being kept today and what is coming in the year ahead.
Seasons and harvests
Farming societies marked the sowing, the first fruits and the harvest with offerings and feasts, and many of those festivals are still kept: Pongal, Chuseok, Thanksgiving, the New Yam Festival. Spring brings festivals of renewal, from Nowruz to Holi and Easter, and midwinter brings fire and light. In the tropics the rains rather than the temperature set the year, and festivals greet their arrival or their end.
Moons, weeks and days
Lunar calendars shape the dates of Ramadan, Lunar New Year, Vesak, Diwali and the Jewish festivals, so the dates move against the solar year. The week has its own rhythm, with a day of rest, a day of market and days of fasting for particular gods. EveryParampara's calendar and weekday pages show these patterns, so a visitor can see why Friday is couscous in Morocco and Saturday is Shabbat in Israel.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Seasons, harvest and the calendar (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇲🇽 Mexico City, Mexico and 2 moreDay of the DeadDía de Muertos
A Mexican remembrance of deceased family and friends with altars, marigolds and feastsFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreSaint Patrick's Day in the United States
An annual celebration of Irish heritage across America with parades, feasts and green dyeFestival · Dinner
🇺🇸 Chicago, United States and 4 moreKwanzaa
A seven-day African American celebration of heritage, family and community valuesFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesThanksgiving
An annual American holiday of gratitude, family gatherings and an autumn harvest feastFestival · Dinner
🇲🇽 Mexico and 8 moreLas Posadas
A nine-night Christmas pageant remembering Mary and Joseph seeking shelterSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇦 CanadaThanksgivingAction de grâce
An annual Canadian autumn holiday celebrating the harvest with family feastsFestival · Dinner
🇺🇸 United StatesMakahiki
A four-month Hawaiian new year season of peace, harvest gifts, feasts and gamesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 Manhattan, United StatesJews and Thanksgiving
An American national holiday kept by most US Jews, and debated by their rabbisFestival · Dinner
🇨🇦 Toronto, CanadaRamadan in Canada
A month of fasting, prayer and shared evening meals, kept by Muslims across CanadaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kwanzaa: Apavlo at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Thanksgiving: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Public domain, source
- Las Posadas: Yavidaxiu, CC BY 3.0, source
- Thanksgiving: Lars Plougmann, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Saint Patrick's Day in the United States: White House/Chuck Kennedy, Public domain, source
- Jews and Thanksgiving: Executive Committee of Congregation Shearith Israel., Public domain, source
- Day of the Dead: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Makahiki: Unknown author, Public domain, source