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.
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.
🇨🇱 ChileNgillatun
A communal Mapuche rite of prayer, sacrifice and dance to maintain cosmic balanceSpiritual
🇵🇪 Cusco, Peru and 4 moreIntiinti (Quechua)
The Inca sun deity, honoured with temples, offerings and the June festival Inti RaymiSpiritual
🇺🇾 Montevideo, UruguayNostalgia NightNoche de la Nostalgia
Uruguay's nationwide retro music and dance celebration held every 24 AugustFestival
🇨🇴 Barranquilla, ColombiaBarranquilla CarnivalCarnaval de Barranquilla
A four-day street festival of music, masquerade and dance in coastal ColombiaFestival
🇨🇴 Pasto, ColombiaBlacks and Whites' CarnivalCarnaval de Negros y Blancos
A week of street games, parades and music held every January in Pasto, ColombiaFestival
🇵🇪 Cusco, PeruQoyllur Rit'iQuyllurit'i
An Andean mountain pilgrimage uniting indigenous star lore and Catholic devotionSpiritual
🇵🇪 Lima, PeruLord of MiraclesSeñor de los Milagros
An October Catholic festival in Lima honouring a miraculous mural of ChristSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇺 Remedios, CubaParrandas
Central Cuban street festivals featuring district rumba music, floats and fireworksFestival
🇹🇹 Port of Spain, Trinidad and TobagoCanboulay
An early Trinidadian celebration that shaped modern Carnival and calypso musicFestival
🇨🇱 Santiago, ChileFiestas Patrias
Chile's homeland festivities celebrating national identity with music, dance, and foodCeremony
🇹🇹 Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago Carnival
An annual festival of street parades, masquerade bands, steelpan music and danceFestival
🇦🇷 Mendoza, ArgentinaFiesta Nacional de la Vendimia
Argentina's national grape harvest festival, celebrated each year in MendozaSeasonal
🇺🇾 Montevideo, UruguayCarnival in Uruguay
An extended festival of drum processions, stage satire, and dance across Uruguay.Festival
🇧🇷 BrazilFesta JuninaFestas Juninas
A Brazilian midwinter celebration marked by bonfires, folk dances and countryside gamesFestival
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreWe TripantuWiñoy Tripantu
The Mapuche new year, kept on the June solstice as the sun turns backFestival
🇨🇴 Cali, ColombiaCali FairLa Feria de Cali
A six-day Colombian celebration of salsa music, street parades, and regional cultureFestival
🇨🇺 Santiago de Cuba, CubaCarnival of Santiago de CubaCarnaval
A summer street celebration of percussion troupes, dancing, and parades in eastern CubaFestival
🇭🇹 Port-au-Prince, HaitiHaitian CarnivalKanaval
Haiti's annual street festival of music, satirical plays and costumed paradesFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇧🇴 Tiwanaku, Bolivia and 2 moreWillkakuti
An Aymara new year at the June solstice, marking the sun's returnSeasonal
🇨🇺 Cuba and 5 moreLetra del Año
Annual prophecies and guidance proclaimed by babalawo priests for the coming yearSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Barranquilla Carnival: el heraldo, Public domain, source
- Inti: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, Public domain, source
- Trinidad and Tobago Carnival: Jean-Marc /Jo BeLo/Jhon-John, CC BY 2.0, source
- Qoyllur Rit'i: AgainErick, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Haitian Carnival: User:Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cali Fair: Jyon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Carnival of Santiago de Cuba: Christian Pirkl, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Parrandas: Juan ramon colina, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fiestas Patrias: Osmar Valdebenito, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ngillatun: Francisco Cavallo, Public domain, source
- Egungun: Ìṣẹ̀ṣeAssembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lord of Miracles: Miguel Chong, Public domain, source
- Blacks and Whites' Carnival: camiloAndres, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia: Javinaselli, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Carnival in Uruguay: Graham Stanley, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Festa Junina: Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, CC BY 2.0, source
- Willkakuti: Tuco Quispe, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- We Tripantu: Lonkonao, CC BY-SA 4.0, source