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.
About this page
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.
🇹🇳 Tunisia and 1 moreBsisaبسيسة
A North African grain and oil ritual to unlock blessings for the yearTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreIsru Chagאסרו חג
A minor Jewish observance extending the joy and sanctity of major pilgrimage holidaysSpiritual
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreGustavus Adolphus DayGustav Adolfsdagen
A Swedish flag day on 6 November, marked with a pastry topped with the king's likenessCeremony · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreNavigium Isidis
An ancient Roman ship procession honouring Isis and the opening of sea travelSpiritual
🇸🇾 Syria and 6 moreKha b'Nisanܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ
A spring new year on 1 April, kept with parades, poems and dancing by AssyriansFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVolturnalia
An ancient Roman festival honouring the water deity Volturnus and his daughter JuturnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaNirjala Ekadashiनिर्जला एकादशी
A rigorous, waterless Hindu fast observed in early summer to honour the god Vishnu.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreTurońTuroń (Polish), Turoň (Slovak)
A shaggy horned beast led from house to house by carol singers at carnival timeFolklore
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreMeteņi
A Latvian pre-Lenten festival marking the turn of time and welcoming spring.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBiikebrennenBiikebrånen
Fires lit at sunset on 21 February to send winter away in North FrisiaFestival
🇳🇬 Kagoro, NigeriaAfan FestivalBwok Ǎfan
A New Year's Day festival of hunting and dances among the Oegworok peopleFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇳 Santiniketan, India and 1 moreRabindra Jayanti
An annual Bengali festival celebrating Rabindranath Tagore with music, drama and verseFestival
🇮🇳 Muhamma, India and 5 moreAkhiri Chahar Shambah
A day of bathing, prayer and charity on the last Wednesday of SafarSpiritual
🇲🇪 MontenegroStatehood DayДан државности
Montenegro's national holiday on 13 July, for 1878 recognition and the 1941 revoltCeremony
🇮🇸 IcelandFirst Day of Summersumardagurinn fyrsti
Iceland's holiday on the first Thursday after 18 April, opening the old calendar's summerSeasonal
🇲🇹 Birgu, MaltaFreedom DayJum il-Helsien
Malta's national holiday on 31 March, marking the 1979 British military departureCeremony
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreJur Sitalजुड़ शीतल
The first day of the Maithil year, kept with a rice meal, gifts and water blessingsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇪 Geraardsbergen, BelgiumKrakelingen and Tonnekensbrand
A bread throw and a hilltop bonfire that close the winter in GeraardsbergenFestival
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandChalandamarz
A bell-ringing march on the first of March that sends winter out of the Grisons valleysSeasonal
🇧🇦 Kupres, Bosnia and HerzegovinaMowing on KupresStrljanica
A July scythe-mowing contest on the Strljanica meadow at Kupres, kept since 1687Game
🇵🇱 Poland and 6 morePolaznik
The first visitor to cross the threshold at Christmas, read as a sign of the year to comeFolklore
🇦🇹 Austria and 2 morePerchten
Masked midwinter walks in the Alps, with carved wooden masks and sheepskinFolklore
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief Night
An informal autumn evening of neighbourhood tricks, practical jokes and street pranksFestival
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreDajiao打醮
An annual Taoist ritual and festival seeking peace and safety for the communitySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇫🇷 Cayenne, FranceCarnival of French Guiana
A weeks-long carnival of masked balls and parades, from Epiphany to Mardi GrasFestival
🇮🇸 Skálholt, IcelandThorlak's MassÞorláksmessa
Iceland's feast of its patron saint on 23 December, the last day before ChristmasSpiritual
🇿🇲 Lundazi, Zambia and 1 moreKulonga
An annual harvest festival of thanksgiving celebrated by Tumbuka communitiesSeasonal
🇬🇧 United KingdomJack o' Lent
An English Lenten custom of abusing and burning a straw figureSeasonal
🇨🇿 CzechiaName days in the Czech RepublicSvátek
A daily custom where people celebrate on the calendar date assigned to their given name.Seasonal
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Broad
A Cotswold Christmas figure: a bull's head on a pole, carried by a hidden performerFolklore
🇱🇹 Vilnius, LithuaniaLithuania Independence Restoration Day
A Lithuanian national holiday on 11 March celebrating the 1990 return of sovereign ruleCeremony
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис
A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMahalakshmia jo Sagroمَھالڪشميءَ جو سڳڙو / महालक्ष्मीअ जो सॻड़ो
A sixteen-day Hindu fast and prayer dedicated to the goddess of wealthSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 2 morePassover sacrificeקרבן פסח
The lamb offering eaten at the start of Passover, from the Exodus storySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇪 GeorgiaTheodore's Saturday
The first Saturday of Lent, kept with boiled wheat and visits to the gravesSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelAravahערבה
The ritual waving and beating of willow branches during the festival of SukkotSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreLeil Selichotליל הסליחות
A night of penitential prayers and poems recited before the Jewish New Year to seek forgiveness.Spiritual
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreGeorge's Day in AutumnЕгорий Осенний (Yegoriy Osenniy), Юрьев день (Yuriev den); Serbian: Ђурђиц (Đurđic)
The autumn feast of Saint George, kept at harvest's end in Slavic landsFestival
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreMalam Tujuh Likurمالم توجوه ليكور
The Malay custom of lighting oil lamps during the closing nights of Ramadan.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇸 Jerusalem, Palestine and 1 moreThursday of the Deadخميس الأموات
A spring day of cemetery visits, prayer, and shared yellow breads across the LevantSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaAgeraआगेरा
Mumbai's East Indian Catholics give thanks for the harvest on the first Sunday of OctoberFestival
🇩🇪 GermanySeven Sleepers' DaySiebenschläfertag
A German feast day on June 27 where the weather predicts the next seven weeks of summer.Seasonal
🇬🇧 United KingdomHarvest Festival
An autumn thanksgiving for the crops, kept in churches and schools across the UKSeasonal · Supper
🇰🇷 Jindo Island, South KoreaNamdo Field Songs남도 들노래
Farmers' choral work songs from South Jeolla, sung through the rice field yearPerformance
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreEmber daysQuatuor Tempora
A quarterly Western Christian rhythm of fasting, prayer and seasonal thanksgivingSeasonal · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMadhushravaniमधुश्रावणी
A fifteen-day Mithila festival of fasting, worship and song for newly married bridesSpiritual
🇩🇿 Djanet, Algeria and 1 moreSebibaسبيبة (Arabic), ⵙⴱⵉⴱⴰ (Tifinagh)
A Tuareg festival and dance in the Algerian Sahara marking the Islamic New Year and Ashura.Festival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Biikebrennen: Borstenpinsel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rabindra Jayanti: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt, Public domain, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Ember days: Richard Symonds, CC BY 3.0, source
- Harvest Festival: Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Seven Sleepers' Day: either an unknown master or „Frater Rufillus“, Public domain, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Madhushravani: Monika Jha, CC0, source
- Agera: Tiven Gonsalves, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Passover sacrifice: מפוכח, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Thorlak's Mass: Orf3us, Public domain, source
- Carnival of French Guiana: Didwin973, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gustavus Adolphus Day: Jacob Truedson Demitz for Ristesson, Public domain, source
- Kha b'Nisan: Athrakado, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- First Day of Summer: ArniGael, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Turoń: Museum: The Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, CC0, source
- Akhiri Chahar Shambah: Hans Kyoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chalandamarz: Claudio Schneider, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jur Sital: PCNWorld at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mowing on Kupres: PLATFORMA SARAJEVO, CC BY 3.0, source
- Polaznik: Carlton Alfred Smith, Public domain, source
- Perchten: Anita Martinz, CC BY 2.0, source
- Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrand: Jan Coppens at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Meteņi: Spekozols, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lithuania Independence Restoration Day: Lithuania Post Office / Scanned and processed by Vizu, Public domain, source
- Isru Chag: Jim Padgett, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bsisa: Kamelgazzah, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nirjala Ekadashi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Navigium Isidis: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dajiao: 29cm, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Sebiba: Abderrahmane boudjenane, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Malam Tujuh Likur: Qatrunan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- George's Day in Autumn: Sergey Ivanov, Public domain, source
- Leil Selichot: Yael Shilo יעל שילה, CC BY 3.0, source
- Aravah: DRosenbach ( Talk | Contribs ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source