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.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreMummers' play
A comic folk drama of staged combat, death, and revival by an eccentric doctorPerformance
🇸🇪 SwedenJul
A midwinter holiday of feast tables, doorstep gift givers, and candlelit morningsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇱 Elbasan, Albania and 3 moreDita e Verës
An Albanian spring festival of bonfires, sweets and nature renewal on March 14Seasonal
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreRéveillon
A luxurious late-night feast that stretches until dawn across the winter holidaysTable custom · Dinner
🇪🇸 Valencia, SpainCremà
The ceremonial burning of large artistic street monuments across the Valencian communityFestival
🇷🇴 RomaniaSorcova
Children tap people with a flowered twig on New Year's morning, wishing health and luckSeasonal
🇫🇮 FinlandChristmas in Finlandjoulu
A quiet midwinter festival of saunas, grave candles and table casseroles across FinlandSeasonal · Dinner
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival
A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Sunday
An English church blessing of the land and farm tools at the start of the yearSpiritual
🇨🇭 Liestal, SwitzerlandChienbäse
A Swiss carnival night parade of blazing pinewood brooms and carts of fireFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreSaffron bun
A golden, spiced yeast roll flavoured with saffron, baked for festive and holy daysTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBank holiday
Official days of rest and financial closure across the British IslesCeremony
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 2 moreGerman CarnivalKarneval
Pre-Lenten street parades, costume balls and local revels across German-speaking lands.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaZiemassvētki
Latvia's midwinter festival of solstice customs, mumming and tree decorationSeasonal
🇱🇺 Luxembourg and 3 moreBuergbrennen
A bonfire festival marking the end of winter on the first Sunday of Lent in LuxembourgSeasonal
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 3 moreMalankaМаланка
A Ukrainian folk celebration of masked mummers, feasting and New Year blessingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα
A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇸 IcelandYule LadsJólasveinarnir
Thirteen mischievous brothers who visit Icelandic homes in the nights leading to Yule.Folklore
🇱🇹 LithuaniaUžgavėnės
A Lithuanian winter-ending festival of masks, mock battles and pancakesFestival
🇱🇹 LithuaniaSaint Jonas's FestivalJoninės
A Lithuanian midsummer night of bonfires, wreaths, song and morning dewSeasonal
🇮🇪 Killorglin, IrelandPuck FairAonach an Phoic
An annual Kerry gathering centred on the crowning of a mountain goat.Festival
🇮🇸 IcelandÞorrablót
An Icelandic midwinter feast of dinner, speeches and poetryFestival · Dinner
🇸🇮 Ptuj, Slovenia and 1 moreKurentovanje
A rite of spring and carnival in Ptuj with masked bell-ringers chasing winter awayFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 6 moreAsh WednesdayDies Cinerum
A solemn Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, and the placing of ashesSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇸 Jijona, Spain and 5 moreTurrón
A festive Mediterranean nut-and-honey confection shared at Christmas and local feastsTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇵🇹 Porto, PortugalFesta de São João do Porto
Porto's midsummer festival of street feasts, fireworks and playful hammer tapsFestival
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 3 moreLittle ChristmasNollaig na mBan
A January feast day marking the close of the twelve days of ChristmasSeasonal · Dinner
🇪🇸 SpainOlentzero
A Basque Christmas tradition of a charcoal burner bringing presents in midwinterFestival
🇷🇺 Moscow, RussiaChristmas in RussiaРождество Христово
An Orthodox winter feast marked by church vigils, fasting suppers and festive mealsSpiritual · Supper
🇦🇹 Salzburg, Austria and 5 morePerchta
A midwinter Alpine figure who checks spinning and tests good behaviourFolklore
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreTashlikhתשליך
A Jewish new year rite of casting sins into flowing water, kept by the watersideSpiritual
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 6 moreBoishakhi Melaবৈশাখী মেলা
A Bengali New Year fair in London each May, with a parade, music and food stallsFestival
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreMartenitsaмартеница
Red and white yarn dolls worn from 1 March until spring shows itselfFestival
🇪🇸 Buñol, SpainLa Tomatina
A one-hour tomato fight in Buñol on the last Wednesday of AugustFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomLong sword dance
A Yorkshire winter sword dance kept by village teams at Christmas and Plough MondayPerformance
🇪🇸 Madrid, Spain and 5 moreTwelve GrapesLas doce uvas de la suerte
A grape for every chime at midnight on 31 December, welcoming the new yearFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇬🇧 United KingdomCalennig
Welsh children carry a decorated apple door to door and sing for New Year giftsFestival
🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreYuleġēol (Old English); jól (Old Norse)
The Germanic midwinter festival that Christmas grew out of, kept today by HeathensSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Monday
England's old start of the farming year, kept with ploughs, straw bears and sword dancesSeasonal
🇬🇧 Yorkshire, United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief NightNoson Ddrygioni (Welsh); Oidhche nan Cleas (Scottish Gaelic)
An evening of pranks and tricks, kept before Halloween or Guy Fawkes NightFestival
🇩🇰 Denmark and 3 moreNissenisse (Danish, Norwegian); tomte (Swedish); tonttu (Finnish)
A small farm spirit of Nordic folklore, given porridge at midwinterFolklore
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreSwabian-Alemannic FastnachtFastnacht
A late-winter carnival of masks and jesters kept before Lent in the Alemannic landsFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 2 moreAssumption of Mary
A feast on 15 August, when Christians remember Mary taken up into heavenSpiritual
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreVasilopitaΒασιλόπιτα
A New Year bread or cake with a coin baked inside, shared out slice by sliceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEasterΠάσχα
The day Christians mark the resurrection, kept with vigils, feasts and eggsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreSaint Patrick's DayLá Fhéile Pádraig
An annual Irish holiday of parades, church services, green dress and shamrocksFestival
🇮🇪 Galway, IrelandGalway International Oyster Festival
An annual autumn gathering in Galway honouring native oysters with shucking contestsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇴 NorwayJul
An eight-week Norwegian midwinter season of feasts, family gatherings, and gift-givingSeasonal · Lunch
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
- Plough Sunday: John Cowie, CC BY 3.0, source
- Jul: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chienbäse: Christof Berger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dita e Verës: Bibiomn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cremà: Paula Ramírez Morant, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saffron bun: Nenniu, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- German Carnival: Neva Micheva, CC BY 2.5, source
- Buergbrennen: luxpim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Malanka: Viktoriyasechkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yule Lads: Lusinemarg, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Užgavėnės: Algirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia, GFDL, source
- Saint Jonas's Festival: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Puck Fair: Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kurentovanje: Aleš Kravos, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ash Wednesday: Oxh973, Public domain, source
- Turrón: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Festa de São João do Porto: Hugo Cadavez, CC BY 2.0, source
- Olentzero: Josu Goñi Etxabe, Public domain, source
- Christmas in Russia: Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Perchta: Holger Uwe Schmitt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tashlikh: Yaakov Saar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Boishakhi Mela: Ripon Miah, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Martenitsa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- La Tomatina: Graham McLellan, CC BY 2.0, source
- Long sword dance: donald judge, CC BY 2.0, source
- Twelve Grapes: Ralf Roletschek, GFDL 1.2, source
- Yule: Robert Chambers, Public domain, source
- Plough Monday: Rawpixel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nisse: AlphaZeta, CC0, source
- Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Assumption of Mary: Jebulon, CC0, source
- Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
- Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
- Sorcova: The original uploader was Alex:D at Romanian Wikipedia ., Public domain, source
- Mummers' play: Aladjov, CC BY 3.0, source
- Saint Patrick's Day: rannṗáirtí anaiṫnid ( coṁrá ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Galway International Oyster Festival: Thoslee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Christmas in Finland: Uploaded by Sigketill, CC BY-SA 3.0, source