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.
🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreYuleġēol (Old English); jól (Old Norse)
The Germanic midwinter festival that Christmas grew out of, kept today by HeathensSpiritual
🇺🇸 United StatesGreen Corn CeremonyPuskita
A Southeastern harvest and new year ceremony of fasting, dancing and renewalSeasonal
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreCrayfish partykräftskiva
Boiled crayfish, snaps and paper lanterns at a late-summer party in Sweden and FinlandTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Monday
England's old start of the farming year, kept with ploughs, straw bears and sword dancesSeasonal
🇧🇴 Tiwanaku, Bolivia and 2 moreWillkakuti
An Aymara new year at the June solstice, marking the sun's returnSeasonal
🇨🇳 Hong Kong, China and 5 moreLunar New Year
New year festivals dated by the moon, kept from East Asia to the Middle EastFestival
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreWe TripantuWiñoy Tripantu
The Mapuche new year, kept on the June solstice as the sun turns backFestival
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor worship
Honouring dead relatives with offerings and prayers, kept in many cultures worldwideSpiritual
🇬🇧 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
🇰🇷 South KoreaJwibullori쥐불놀이
A Korean New Year game of whirling fire-cans to clear fields and wish good luckGame
🇳🇬 Abuja, NigeriaNew Yam FestivalIri ji
A yearly harvest thanksgiving across Nigeria, when the first new yams may be eatenFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇰 Denmark and 3 moreNissenisse (Danish, Norwegian); tomte (Swedish); tonttu (Finnish)
A small farm spirit of Nordic folklore, given porridge at midwinterFolklore
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 4 moreSinterklaasSinterklaas / Sint-Nicolaas
A Dutch winter feast on 5 and 6 December, when Saint Nicholas brings gifts to childrenFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇷 Ashtian, Iran and 5 moreSamanuسمنو
A sweet sprouted-wheat paste stirred through the night for NowruzTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreShofarשׁוֹפָר
A ram's horn blown in synagogue to mark the Jewish new year and the end of Yom KippurSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreLord's DayKyriake hemera
Sunday, the weekly day of Christian worship, kept as a memory of the resurrectionSpiritual
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreSwabian-Alemannic FastnachtFastnacht
A late-winter carnival of masks and jesters kept before Lent in the Alemannic landsFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival
A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 2 moreAssumption of Mary
A feast on 15 August, when Christians remember Mary taken up into heavenSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreSeharane
A Kurdish Jewish festival of campfires, circle dances and shared foodFestival
🇬🇷 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
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town Minstrel CarnivalKaapse Klopse
Cape Town's 2 January parade of minstrel troupes, ghoema drums and bright umbrellasFestival
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 5 moreCarnival
A season of parades, masks and feasting in the days before LentFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelRosh Chodeshרֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ
The start of each Hebrew month, marked by the new moon and kept with prayerSpiritual
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked with fire, feasting and poetrySeasonal
🇳🇴 NorwayJul
An eight-week Norwegian midwinter season of feasts, family gatherings, and gift-givingSeasonal · Lunch
🇳🇱 Landgraaf, NetherlandsPinkpop
A three-day pop and rock festival in the Netherlands, held on the Pentecost weekendFestival
🇺🇸 Spokane, United States and 5 moreFather's Day
A day to honour fathers and fatherhood, kept on many different dates worldwideFestival
🇧🇩 BangladeshNight of Powerليلة القدر
The night Muslims believe the Quran first came down, sought in Ramadan's last ten nightsSpiritual
🇱🇧 Lebanon and 2 moreAnnunciationΟ Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου
A Christian feast marking the angel Gabriel's message to Mary about bearing Jesus, kept on 25 March.Festival
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNativity of Mary
A Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusSpiritual · Lunch
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalySaturnalia
A December festival of ancient Rome, with feasting, gifts, gambling and role reversalSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇸🇦 Mecca, Saudi Arabia and 1 moreDay of Arafahيوم عرفة
A holy day of prayer, repentance, and vigil on the second day of the Hajj pilgrimageSpiritual
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreDormition of the Mother of God
A major feast in Eastern Christianity marking the death and heavenly ascent of Mary.Spiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreSaint George's Day
A saint's feast on 23 April, kept by churches and patron nations from England to GeorgiaSpiritual
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreVisitation
A Christian feast commemorating Mary's journey to visit her cousin ElizabethSpiritual
🇩🇪 Wittenberg, Germany and 5 moreReformation Day
An annual Christian observance marking the start of the Protestant ReformationSpiritual
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreProgrammer's Day
A professional day for programmers, fixed to the 256th day of the yearCeremony
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreTrinity SundayDominica Trinitatis
A Christian feast honouring the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit after PentecostSpiritual
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreCyber Monday
An annual online shopping observance held on the Monday following American Thanksgiving.Seasonal
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 morePresentation of Mary
A Christian feast on November 21 marking a child's dedication to God in Jerusalem.Spiritual
🇨🇳 Nanjing, China and 4 moreSingles' Day光棍节
A day for people without a partner that grew into the world's biggest shopping eventFestival
🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada and 1 moreStar Wars Day
An annual worldwide celebration of the Star Wars universe on May 4Festival
🇨🇦 Canada and 5 moreBuy Nothing Day
An annual 24-hour pause on shopping to protest consumerism and overconsumptionCeremony
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreOld New YearСтарый Новый год (Russian), Стара Нова година (Macedonian), Српска Нова година (Serbian), Hen Galan (Welsh)
An informal holiday marking the start of the Julian calendar year, celebrated on 14 January in the Gregorian calendar.Festival · Dinner
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreIntercession of the TheotokosПокровъ
An Eastern Christian autumn feast honoring the protective veil of the Virgin MarySpiritual
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBeheading of John the Baptist
A Christian holy day of strict fasting that marks the death of John the BaptistSpiritual · 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.
- Igbo New Yam Festival: Adimora chidinma, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- High Holy Days: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Yule: Robert Chambers, Public domain, source
- Pre-Cana: Jebulon, CC0, source
- Reformation Day: 95Thesen.jpg : User:Shizhao derivative work: 6birc ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Trinity Sunday: Max Fürst, Public domain, source
- Green Corn Ceremony: George Catlin, Public domain, source
- Crayfish party: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Plough Monday: Rawpixel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Willkakuti: Tuco Quispe, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lunar New Year: Flying Pharmacist, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- We Tripantu: Lonkonao, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ancestor worship: Lyn Gateley, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jwibullori: KOREA.NET, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Nisse: AlphaZeta, CC0, source
- Sinterklaas: R.F. (Roel) Jorna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Samanu: Myone63, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lord's Day: Globetrotter19, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
- Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
- Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
- Cape Town Minstrel Carnival: George Duff, Public domain, source
- Carnival: Etienne Le Cocq, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rosh Chodesh: beth woodrum, CC BY 2.0, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pinkpop: Gianni Taranto, CC BY 3.0, source
- Night of Power: M sh شراونة محمد, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint George's Day: Raphael, Public domain, source
- Singles' Day: Chrionexfleckeri1350, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
- Dormition of the Mother of God: El Greco, Public domain, source
- Beheading of John the Baptist: Caravaggio, Public domain, source
- Father's Day: Jjsarto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Annunciation: El Greco, Public domain, source
- Nativity of Mary: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Day of Arafah: Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Visitation: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Presentation of Mary: Zograf Gregorij, Public domain, source
- Buy Nothing Day: Brave New Films, CC BY 2.0, source
- Intercession of the Theotokos: SNCH, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Old New Year: ceridwen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source