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EveryParampara

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.

About this page

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.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇧🇷 BrazilForró Music, dance and party from Brazil's Northeast, with accordion, triangle and zabumba drumPerformance 🇺🇸 Boise, United States and 3 moreBasque festivalEuskal jaiak Gatherings of dance, sport and food that keep Basque culture alive far from homeFestival 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreHoly FireἋγιον Φῶς A fire ceremony in Jerusalem each year, kept by Orthodox Christians before EasterSpiritual 🇪🇪 EstoniaJaanipäev Estonia's midsummer night of bonfires, song and fortune-telling, on 23 and 24 JuneFestival 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBarn raising A communal tradition where neighbours assemble to erect a farm barn in a few daysCraft · Lunch 🇮🇱 IsraelMishloach manotמשלוח מנות Food parcels exchanged on Purim, so everyone has plenty for the day's festive mealSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreDreidelדרײדל (Yiddish); סביבון (Hebrew) A four-sided top spun for small stakes, most often by Jewish families at HanukkahGame 🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreRara A Haitian street music of bamboo trumpets and drums, played in the Easter seasonPerformance 🇼🇸 Samoa and 3 moreWhite SundayLotu Tamaiti A Samoan holiday honoring children with church services, white clothing, and family gatherings on the second Sunday of OFestival · Dinner 🇴🇲 Salalah, Oman and 3 moreKhareefخَرِيْف The monsoon season of Dhofar and Al Mahrah, welcomed with a festival in SalalahSeasonal 🇹🇿 Zanzibar, TanzaniaSauti za Busara A February meeting of musicians in Zanzibar's Old FortPerformance 🇬🇪 Tbilisi, Georgia and 4 moreGeorgian polyphonic singing Several voices at once, sung without instruments at Georgian feasts and weddingsPerformance 🇺🇸 Falcon Heights, United StatesMinnesota State Fair Minnesota's twelve-day fair of farm animals, contests and food, ending on Labor DayFestival 🇨🇱 Santiago, Chile and 3 moreCueca A courtship dance of Chile and the Andes where partners trace circles with handkerchiefs to mimic a rooster and hen.Performance 🇱🇦 Laos and 1 moreBaciບາສີ (Lao) A Lao rite that calls the soul home and ties a thread on the wrist for good luckSpiritual 🇺🇸 United StatesFeast of the Seven FishesFesta dei sette pesci An Italian-American Christmas Eve seafood dinner marking abstinence from meat.Table custom · Dinner 🇦🇷 Córdoba, ArgentinaCuarteto An upbeat partner dance and music tradition born in Córdoba, ArgentinaPerformance 🇮🇳 IndiaKambala An annual traditional buffalo race across muddy paddy fields in southwestern IndiaGame 🇵🇷 Ponce, Puerto Rico and 1 morePlena Puerto Rican folk songs and dance sharing community news with rhythmic frame drumsPerformance 🇦🇴 AngolaSemba A traditional style of music and partner dance from AngolaPerformance 🇬🇧 Pilton, United KingdomGlastonbury Festival A five-day summer performing arts festival held on Somerset farmlandFestival 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas carol Festive songs and hymns sung during the Christmas season and door to doorPerformance 🇹🇻 TuvaluMusic of Tuvalu Rhythmic storytelling dances and choral singing from the Polynesian atolls of TuvaluPerformance 🇯🇵 Kishiwada, JapanKishiwada Danjiri Matsuri岸和田だんじり祭 A high-speed festival of wooden shrine floats pulled through Kishiwada, JapanFestival 🇸🇦 Saudi ArabiaArdahالعرضة A traditional Arabian group dance of facing lines, drums, poetry, and swordsPerformance 🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 5 moreVyshyvanka DayДень вишиванки An annual day for wearing traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts across the worldDress 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreApril Fools' Day An annual day of lighthearted pranks, hoaxes and teasing kept on the first of AprilFestival 🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 2 moreIrish traditional music A living folk practice of dance tunes, airs, songs and communal pub sessionsPerformance 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, DenmarkFaroese chain danceFøroyskur dansur A living medieval chain dance guided by sung ballads in the Faroe IslandsPerformance 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDandiya Raas A stick dance from Gujarat performed in pairs during the festival of NavaratriPerformance 🇳🇿 New ZealandTivaevaetīvaevae A traditional Polynesian art of artistic quilting made by women for gifts and ceremonies.Craft 🇧🇿 Dangriga, Belize and 4 morePunta rock A fast-paced Garifuna dance music mixing traditional percussion with electric guitarsPerformance 🇳🇬 Calabar, NigeriaCalabar Carnival An annual December street festival and cultural gathering held in Calabar, NigeriaFestival 🇨🇱 ChileNgillatun A communal Mapuche rite of prayer, sacrifice and dance to maintain cosmic balanceSpiritual 🇨🇳 Tianjin, ChinaManchu-Han Imperial Feast滿漢全席 A grand multi-day banquet uniting Manchu and Han culinary traditions in ChinaTable custom · Feasts and festival meals 🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesKrewe Carnival clubs that stage parades, balls, and pageantry along the Gulf CoastFestival 🇲🇲 Bagan, MyanmarNat worshipနတ် Veneration of guardian spirits and nature deities alongside Buddhism in MyanmarSpiritual 🇮🇩 IndonesiaOgoh-ogohᬳᭀᬕᭀᬄ​ᬳᭀᬕᭀᬄ Giant handcrafted statues paraded and burned on the eve of the Balinese Saka New YearFestival 🇺🇸 New York, United States and 2 moreSalsa A lively Latin partner dance rooted in Afro-Caribbean rhythms and social dance traditionsPerformance 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreSaint Patrick's Day in the United States An annual celebration of Irish heritage across America with parades, feasts and green dyeFestival · Dinner 🇳🇬 Oyo, Nigeria and 1 moreEgungunEgúngún Yoruba ancestral masquerades bringing blessings, counsel and moral renewalSpiritual 🇹🇼 Yilan, Taiwan and 4 moreTaiwanese opera歌仔戲 A Taiwanese theatrical art of Hokkien balladry, stylized staging, and expressive song.Performance 🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreMizmarمزمار A traditional double-reed instrument and drum ensemble for weddings and folk dancesPerformance 🇵🇭 PhilippinesPandanggo A lively Philippine folk dance of quick steps, clapping and balanced lightsPerformance 🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 2 moreIrish stepdance A percussive dance form with swift, intricate footwork and an upright torsoPerformance 🇼🇸 Samoa and 3 moreSiva Samoa A graceful Samoan dance marked by subtle, expressive arm and hand movementsPerformance 🇮🇳 Goa, India and 2 moreShehnai A traditional reed instrument played at weddings and temple festivals across IndiaPerformance 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, United StatesSuper Bowl The annual championship game of American professional football, held every February.Game
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Photo credits on this page

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

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Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.