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.
🇮🇳 Gaya, India and 1 moreShraddhaश्राद्ध
Rituals of faith for the ancestors, kept yearly and through Pitru PakshaSpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreYule log
A log kept burning on the hearth through the twelve days of Christmas, for luckSeasonal
🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesPresidents' DayWashington's Birthday
An annual American holiday honouring George Washington and the nation's past leadersCeremony
🇪🇬 Luxor, EgyptOpet Festivalḥb nfr n jpt
An ancient Egyptian festival in Thebes celebrating divine kingship and the Nile floodSpiritual
🇮🇱 IsraelYom HaZikaronיוֹם הַזִּכָּרוֹן
Israel's national day of mourning for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism.Ceremony
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreDouble Ninth Festival重陽節
An autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceSeasonal · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesThanksgiving
An annual American holiday of gratitude, family gatherings and an autumn harvest feastFestival · Dinner
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanHatsumōde初詣
The first shrine or temple visit of the Japanese New Year to pray for good fortuneSpiritual
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 2 moreTsagaan SarЦагаан сар
The Mongolian Lunar New Year festival of peace, elders, white foods and renewalSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇴 Barranquilla, ColombiaBarranquilla CarnivalCarnaval de Barranquilla
A four-day street festival of music, masquerade and dance in coastal ColombiaFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreEgg rolling
A spring game of rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down hills or along lawnsGame
🇯🇵 JapanHadaka Matsuri裸祭り
Japanese festivals where participants clad in loincloths seek luck and purificationSpiritual
🇮🇷 Shiraz, IranHaft-sinهفتسین
Seven symbolic items whose Persian names begin with S, set out for NowruzSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreMāgha Pūjāមាឃបូជា
A Buddhist holy day honoring monastic unity, moral guidance and spiritual fellowshipSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇦🇲 Armenia and 2 moreVardavarՎարդավառ
An Armenian midsummer festival where people playfully douse each other with waterFestival
🇳🇿 New ZealandMatariki
The Māori New Year marked by the midwinter rising of the Pleiades clusterSeasonal
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreMidnight MassMissa in nocte
The first service of Christmas, kept late on Christmas Eve in many Western churchesSpiritual
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 moreRisalamande
A chilled Danish Christmas rice dessert with cream, chopped almonds and cherry sauceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇲🇲 Yangon, MyanmarThingyanသင်္ကြန်
A four-day water festival marking the Myanmar New Year, celebrated in April with merit-making and playful splashing.Festival
🇬🇷 GreeceAnthesteriaἈνθεστήρια
An ancient Greek three-day spring festival of Dionysus, new wine, and the deadFestival
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 3 moreRosenmontag
The peak of German carnival, celebrated with satirical street parades and sweetsFestival
🇹🇼 Taipei, TaiwanDouble Ten Day國慶日
The national holiday of Taiwan marking the start of the 1911 revolution.Ceremony
🇨🇿 Vlčnov, CzechiaRide of the KingsJízda králů
A Moravian spring procession where horsemen escort a silent boy king holding a roseFestival
🇨🇦 CanadaSaint-Jean-Baptiste DayFête nationale du Québec
An annual civic and cultural celebration observed across Quebec every June 24Ceremony
🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreSizdah Bedarسیزدهبدر
An open-air picnic holiday concluding the Iranian New Year celebrationsFestival
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 7 moreKoliadaКоляда
A traditional winter caroling and solstice festival kept across Slavic EuropeFestival
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreHolika Dahanहोलिकादहन
A Hindu ritual bonfire lit on the eve of Holi to welcome the spring.Spiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaVishuവിഷു
The Malayali new year, kept on 14 or 15 April with an auspicious first sightingSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreSharad Purnima
A Hindu autumn full moon festival of night vigils, moonlit sweets and sacred dancesSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇦 Toronto, CanadaVictoria DayFête de la Reine
A Canadian public holiday celebrating the monarch and welcoming the return of summerCeremony
🇨🇳 ChinaGolden Week黄金周
Seven- or eight-day national holiday periods in China for travel and family visitsSeasonal
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDaeboreum대보름
A Korean festival of the first lunar full moon, marked by fires, wishes and feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇰🇭 Cambodia and 4 moreRoyal Ploughing Ceremonyព្រះរាជពិធីបុណ្យច្រត់ព្រះនង្គ័ល
A royal agricultural rite opening the rice season across mainland Southeast AsiaCeremony
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreDidukhдідух
A wheat sheaf kept at Christmas to honour ancestors and pray for a bountiful harvestHome
🇰🇵 Pyongyang, North KoreaDay of the Shining Star광명성절
A two-day national holiday in North Korea honouring the birth of Kim Jong Il.Ceremony
🇮🇳 IndiaMahavir Janma Kalyanak
A Jain festival of temple worship, street processions and acts of charitySpiritual
🇨🇿 Czechia and 2 moreEaster whippingpomlázka
An Easter Monday custom of tapping women with braided willow switches for vitalitySeasonal
🇨🇴 Pasto, ColombiaBlacks and Whites' CarnivalCarnaval de Negros y Blancos
A week of street games, parades and music held every January in Pasto, ColombiaFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreClean MondayΚαθαρά Δευτέρα
The Monday that opens Great Lent, kept with fasting, forgiveness and kite-flyingSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 IndiaTulasi Vivahaतुलसी विवाह (Tulasī Vivāha)
A ritual wedding of the tulasi plant to Vishnu, kept in homes and temples across IndiaSpiritual
🇳🇬 Argungu, NigeriaArgungu Fishing Festival
A four-day gathering in Nigeria where thousands compete to land giant river fishFestival
🇱🇦 Luang Prabang, Laos and 5 moreLao New Yearປີໃໝ່ລາວ
A mid-April water festival and Buddhist celebration marking the Lao new yearFestival
🇮🇷 Yazd, Iran and 1 moreSadehسده
An ancient midwinter festival of fire, light, and the approach of springFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇴 RomaniaDragobete
A Romanian festival of young love and spring, celebrated with early flowers and courtshipFestival
🇦🇿 AzerbaijanNovruzNovruz Bayramı
The Azerbaijani spring equinox festival of bonfires, sweets and sprouted wheatSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreJāņi
An annual Latvian summer solstice celebration of bonfires, singing and woven wreathsFestival
🇰🇭 Siem Reap, CambodiaCambodian New Yearបុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី ប្រពៃណីជាតិ
A three-day harvest festival marking the traditional solar new year across CambodiaSeasonal
🇦🇹 Austria and 4 moreAlmabtrieb
An Alpine autumn custom of leading decorated cattle from high pastures to valley barnsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Hatsumōde: KKPCW, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Argungu Fishing Festival: Jaekel, Francis., Public domain, source
- Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yom HaZikaron: אבישי טייכר, CC BY 2.5, source
- Opet Festival: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tsagaan Sar: User:Chinneeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Egg rolling: White House/Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, source
- Barranquilla Carnival: el heraldo, Public domain, source
- Matariki: Robert Gendler, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vardavar: Камалян001, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rosenmontag: Aymx, Public domain, source
- Anthesteria: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Māgha Pūjā: myself, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Thingyan: Pagan era painter(s), Public domain, source
- Sizdah Bedar: PersianDutchNetwork, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Koliada: Konstantin Trutovsky, Public domain, source
- Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day: Montrealais, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Blacks and Whites' Carnival: camiloAndres, CC BY 2.0, source
- Easter whipping: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Presidents' Day: Alexander Gardner, Public domain, source
- Ride of the Kings: Filipzverina, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Risalamande: Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Day of the Shining Star: Nicor, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Didukh: Bo&Ko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Royal Ploughing Ceremony: Xiengyod, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Daeboreum: hojusaram, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Golden Week: User:czhongwu, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Victoria Day: abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sadeh: Farzad j, Public domain, source
- Lao New Year: Darren On The Road, CC BY 2.0, source
- Jāņi: Heinrihsons, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Thanksgiving: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Public domain, source
- Almabtrieb: Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and if, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cambodian New Year: Sam Sith, CC BY 2.0, source
- Novruz: Abutalub, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hadaka Matsuri: CES, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holika Dahan: Banswalhemant, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mahavir Janma Kalyanak: Francis Harry Roy S, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sharad Purnima: ShotgunMavericks, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
- Shraddha: Billjones94, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Haft-sin: HengamehRM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vishu: Vishnu Kunnathully, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Clean Monday: Перов, Public domain, source
- Tulasi Vivaha: Unknown author, CC BY 3.0, source
- Midnight Mass: Atleett, CC0, source
- Double Ten Day: 總統府, CC BY 2.0, source