Festivals and celebrations
The days a community stops, gathers and celebrates.
Festivals and celebrations are the days when a community stops its work, dresses up, eats together and makes noise. They may mark a season, a saint, a victory or just the pleasure of being together. From Carnival and Holi to Songkran and Oktoberfest, they show a place at its most generous and expressive. Many have religious roots, others are civic or seasonal, and a good number began as local fairs and grew famous. This page lists them by country, month and meaning, with notes on food, costume and music.
What makes a festival
Most festivals share a few features: a set date, a procession or gathering, special food, music and dance, a costume or colour, and an element of play. Some invert the usual order, letting servants command and the young tease the old, as at Carnival and Purim. Others are solemn, with lamps, silence or fasting. Whatever the tone, a festival gives people a shared memory, and the preparations, from cooking to costume making, are part of the pleasure.
Local and global
A festival that began in one village may now draw millions, and migrants carry festivals to new countries, where they take on new forms. Diwali is celebrated in London and Singapore, St Patrick's Day in Buenos Aires and Tokyo, Lunar New Year in Sydney and New York. At the same time, many small local festivals survive, and EveryParampara records these too, because a village fair is as much a part of the world's heritage as a great carnival.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Festivals and celebrations (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.
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreTamalada
A gathering where tamales are the main dish or a communal tamale-making party in Mexican and Hispanic cultures.Festival · Lunch
🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaTemplestay템플스테이
A program that invites visitors to live in South Korean Buddhist temples and join the daily routines of monastic life.Spiritual · Dinner
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBarn raising
A communal tradition where neighbours assemble to erect a farm barn in a few daysCraft · Lunch
🇫🇷 France and 4 morePicnic
A meal taken outdoors in a park or scenic spot, often shared with friends and family.Festival · Lunch
🇯🇵 Kyoto, Japan and 4 moreHanami花見
A Japanese spring custom of gathering under blooming cherry trees to eat, drink, and celebrate the fleeting beauty of thFestival · Lunch
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreMaslenitsaМасленица
A seven-day Eastern Slavic festival of pancakes and bonfires marking the end of winter before Lent.Festival · Breakfast
🇹🇳 Nabeul, Tunisia and 4 moreHarissaهريسة
A spicy chili pepper paste from Tunisia, used as a condiment and ingredient across North Africa.Table custom · Dinner
🇨🇳 Shanghai, China and 1 moreJiaozi餃子
Crescent Chinese dumplings filled with meat or vegetables, eaten for fortune and feastsTable custom · Breakfast
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyFerragosto
A public holiday on 15 August marking the Assumption of Mary and the traditional start of the Italian summer break.Festival · Lunch
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 4 moreLebaranHari Raya Lebaran
Indonesia's festive season of homecoming, seeking forgiveness and shared feastsFestival · Breakfast
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBohag Bihu
A multi-day Assamese New Year festival of cattle rites, music, gifts and feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇬 Oyo, Nigeria and 3 moreSango Festival
An annual Yoruba gathering in Nigeria honoring the deity of thunder and lightningFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaMagh Bihu
A harvest festival of bonfires, feasts and winter games in AssamSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreJulebord
A Scandinavian Christmas banquet of traditional dishes, festive drinks and celebrationTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇽 Tijuana, Mexico and 1 moreBirria
A rich, seasoned meat stew from western Mexico, cooked for gatherings and holidaysTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇰 DenmarkJul
Winter feasts, carols around the tree, and family gatherings across DenmarkFestival · Lunch
🇮🇳 IndiaSadyaസദ്യ
A vegetarian feast from Kerala, served on a banana leaf at Onam, Vishu and weddingsTable custom · Lunch
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreSmorgasbordsmörgåsbord
A Swedish table of hot and cold dishes where guests serve themselvesTable custom · Lunch
🇮🇩 Jakarta, Indonesia and 3 moreRijsttafel
Many small dishes around rice: a colonial-era banquet still served in the NetherlandsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇨 Quito, EcuadorFanesca
Ecuador's Holy Week soup of grains, beans and salt cod, made for Good FridayTable custom · Lunch
🇳🇴 NorwayJul
An eight-week Norwegian midwinter season of feasts, family gatherings, and gift-givingSeasonal · Lunch
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNativity of Mary
A Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusSpiritual · Lunch
🇧🇹 Punakha, BhutanTraditional Day of OfferingBuelwa Phuewi Nyim
A Bhutanese New Year marked by offerings to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and family feasts.Festival · Breakfast
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sadya: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Picnic: Thomas Cole, Public domain, source
- Hanami: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ferragosto: Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Maslenitsa: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jiaozi: Bioniclepluslotr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lebaran: Nurudin Jauhari, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Sango Festival: Demola Ajayi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Birria: Equipo 9mkt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Barn raising: Alexander W. Galbraith, Public domain, source
- Jul: Erik Christensen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Julebord: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bohag Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Magh Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY 2.0, source
- Templestay: (c)한국불교문화사업단, culturalcorpsofkoreanbuddhism, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Harissa: Ovva olfa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Smorgasbord: Jordan Klein, CC BY 2.0, source
- Rijsttafel: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fanesca: Agencia de Noticias ANDES, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Nativity of Mary: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Tamalada: Tania Solá (WMMX), CC BY-SA 4.0, source