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.

🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyFeraliaFerālia An ancient Roman day of offerings to the dead, marking the close of ParentaliaSpiritual

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Sylvester's Day A Christian feast day and year-end celebration marked across Europe and beyondSeasonal · Dinner 🇬🇧 United KingdomWorld Osteoporosis Day A global observance on 20 October promoting bone health and fracture preventionCeremony

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreNeed-fire A ritual fire kindled by friction to ward off cattle plague, disease and harmFolklore

🇺🇦 Ukraine and 8 moreVechornytsiвечорниці Evening gatherings of Ukrainian youth, with songs, jokes, games and winter divinationSeasonal

🇵🇱 Zakopane, PolandKulig A traditional Polish winter sleigh ride party celebrated during the Carnival seasonFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇸🇪 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

🇧🇦 Bosnia and HerzegovinaDay of Republika SrpskaДан Републике Српске An annual civic holiday observed across Republika Srpska on 9 JanuaryCeremony

🇩🇪 Berlin, GermanyRepublic DayTag der Republik The former national holiday marking the founding of East Germany each OctoberCeremony

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreNavigium Isidis An ancient Roman ship procession honouring Isis and the opening of sea travelSpiritual

🇮🇸 IcelandFirst Day of Summersumardagurinn fyrsti Iceland's holiday on the first Thursday after 18 April, opening the old calendar's summerSeasonal

🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreMeteņi A Latvian pre-Lenten festival marking the turn of time and welcoming spring.Festival · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVolturnalia An ancient Roman festival honouring the water deity Volturnus and his daughter JuturnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇲🇪 MontenegroStatehood DayДан државности Montenegro's national holiday on 13 July, for 1878 recognition and the 1941 revoltCeremony

🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreTurońTuroń (Polish), Turoň (Slovak) A shaggy horned beast led from house to house by carol singers at carnival timeFolklore

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBiikebrennenBiikebrånen Fires lit at sunset on 21 February to send winter away in North FrisiaFestival 🇲🇹 Birgu, MaltaFreedom DayJum il-Helsien Malta's national holiday on 31 March, marking the 1979 British military departureCeremony

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandChalandamarz A bell-ringing march on the first of March that sends winter out of the Grisons valleysSeasonal

🇧🇪 Geraardsbergen, BelgiumKrakelingen and Tonnekensbrand A bread throw and a hilltop bonfire that close the winter in GeraardsbergenFestival

🇧🇦 Kupres, Bosnia and HerzegovinaMowing on KupresStrljanica A July scythe-mowing contest on the Strljanica meadow at Kupres, kept since 1687Game

🇦🇹 Austria and 2 morePerchten Masked midwinter walks in the Alps, with carved wooden masks and sheepskinFolklore

🇵🇱 Poland and 6 morePolaznik The first visitor to cross the threshold at Christmas, read as a sign of the year to comeFolklore

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief Night An informal autumn evening of neighbourhood tricks, practical jokes and street pranksFestival 🇬🇧 Penzance, United KingdomGuldizeGool dheys A Cornish harvest supper after the last sheaf is cut, with pork, pie, singing and gamesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 3 moreVenice New Year's ConcertConcerto di Capodanno del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia A New Year's Day concert of orchestra and opera at Venice's Teatro La FenicePerformance

🇭🇺 Miskolc, HungaryKocsonya FestivalKocsonyafesztivál An annual winter food and culture festival held in Miskolc, HungaryFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇱🇹 Vilnius, LithuaniaLithuania Independence Restoration Day A Lithuanian national holiday on 11 March celebrating the 1990 return of sovereign ruleCeremony

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint Thomas Aquinas An annual Christian feast day honouring the medieval theologian Saint Thomas AquinasSpiritual 🇬🇧 United KingdomLincolnshire Day An annual county day on 1 October honouring the history and culture of LincolnshireCeremony

🇮🇹 Turin, Italy and 5 moreMary Help of ChristiansSancta Maria Auxilium Christianorum A Christian feast and devotion honouring Mary as a protector, observed on 24 MaySpiritual 🇬🇧 United KingdomJack o' Lent An English Lenten custom of abusing and burning a straw figureSeasonal

🇩🇪 GermanySeven Sleepers' DaySiebenschläfertag A German feast day on June 27 where the weather predicts the next seven weeks of summer.Seasonal

🇮🇸 Skálholt, IcelandThorlak's MassÞorláksmessa Iceland's feast of its patron saint on 23 December, the last day before ChristmasSpiritual

🇮🇹 Lake Nemi, ItalyNemoralia A three-day Roman festival of torches and garlands for the goddess DianaSpiritual

🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint MarkFesta di san Marco Saint Mark's day on 25 April, kept with rosebuds in Venice and harvest care in LithuaniaSpiritual

🇫🇷 Lyon, France and 2 moreWeek of Prayer for Christian Unity An eight-day international period of shared prayer for reconciliation among churchesSpiritual 🇨🇿 CzechiaName days in the Czech RepublicSvátek A daily custom where people celebrate on the calendar date assigned to their given name.Seasonal

🇷🇺 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 🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Broad A Cotswold Christmas figure: a bull's head on a pole, carried by a hidden performerFolklore

🇬🇧 United KingdomHarvest Festival An autumn thanksgiving for the crops, kept in churches and schools across the UKSeasonal · Supper

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreEmber daysQuatuor Tempora A quarterly Western Christian rhythm of fasting, prayer and seasonal thanksgivingSeasonal · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇷🇸 SerbiaVertepвертеп A Serbian Orthodox Christmas Eve custom, named for the cave of the NativitySpiritual

🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreSaint Knut's DayTjugondag Knut A Nordic holiday marking the twentieth and final day of Christmas each JanuarySeasonal · Sweets given and shared

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreShielingÀirigh Seasonal summer pasture living and traditional dairying in the Scottish hillsSeasonal

🇫🇷 Cayenne, FranceCarnival of French Guiana A weeks-long carnival of masked balls and parades, from Epiphany to Mardi GrasFestival 🇸🇰 SlovakiaName days in SlovakiaMeniny The Slovak tradition of celebrating personal name days alongside birthdaysSeasonal

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Kocsonya Festival: Szalax, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mary Help of Christians: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Seven Sleepers' Day: either an unknown master or „Frater Rufillus“, Public domain, source
Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Thorlak's Mass: Orf3us, Public domain, source
Nemoralia: Frederic Leighton, Public domain, source
First Day of Summer: ArniGael, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Turoń: Museum: The Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, CC0, source
Polaznik: Carlton Alfred Smith, Public domain, source
Mowing on Kupres: PLATFORMA SARAJEVO, CC BY 3.0, source
Kulig: various, Public domain, source
Need-fire: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Day of Republika Srpska: Ministry of Defence of Republic of Serbia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Republic Day: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Feast of Saint Mark: No machine-readable author provided. Cremedia assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
Perchten: Anita Martinz, CC BY 2.0, source
Chalandamarz: Claudio Schneider, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: Kaihsu Tai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
George's Day in Autumn: Sergey Ivanov, Public domain, source
Biikebrennen: Borstenpinsel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrand: Jan Coppens at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
Meteņi: Spekozols, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Navigium Isidis: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Gustavus Adolphus Day: Jacob Truedson Demitz for Ristesson, Public domain, source
Saint Sylvester's Day: Unknown medieval artist in Rome, Public domain, source
Vechornytsi: Гейслер, Кристиан Готфрид Генрих, Public domain, source
Lithuania Independence Restoration Day: Lithuania Post Office / Scanned and processed by Vizu, Public domain, source
Carnival of French Guiana: Didwin973, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Shieling: Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
Ember days: Richard Symonds, CC BY 3.0, source
Venice New Year's Concert: Youflavio, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Harvest Festival: Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source