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.
🇮🇩 Jakarta, IndonesiaIndonesian Independence DayHari Ulang Tahun Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia
Indonesia's national day, marking the 1945 proclamation of independenceCeremony
🇮🇹 Italy and 6 morePatronal festivalFiesta patronal
A town's yearly feast for its patron saint, with processions, a fair and shared foodFestival
🇮🇳 Chandigarh, India and 3 moreGuru Nanak Gurpurabਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ
The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, kept with processions, hymns and a shared mealSpiritual
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyEquirria
Two ancient Roman festivals of horse and chariot racing held in honor of Mars.Festival
🇲🇨 MonacoInternational Circus Festival of Monte-CarloFestival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo
A January circus competition in Monaco, with Clown statuettes for the finest actsFestival
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreArmed Forces Day
A civic holiday honouring national military services, their history and active personnelCeremony
🇦🇲 Armenia and 5 moreFeast of the TransfigurationՊայծառակերպութիւն
A Christian holy day marking the revelation of Christ's divine glory on Mount TaborSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The Thai solar New Year marked by temple rites, elder blessings and water throwingSeasonal
🇮🇩 Pariaman, IndonesiaTabuik
A Muharram mourning rite in Pariaman, Sumatra, ending with a bier carried into the seaSpiritual
🇿🇦 Pretoria, South AfricaNational Women's Day
South Africa's public holiday on 9 August, remembering the women who marched in 1956Ceremony
🇸🇪 Stockholm, SwedenSweden Finns' Dayruotsinsuomalaisten päivä (Finnish); sverigefinnarnas dag (Swedish)
An annual day in Sweden for the Sweden Finns, their language and their historyFestival
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreRosalia
An ancient Roman festival of decorating graves, statues, and standards with fresh flowersSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇿 Tashkent, UzbekistanIndependence DayOʻzbekiston Respublikasi Mustaqilligi kuni
A state holiday on 1 September marking Uzbekistan's break from the Soviet UnionCeremony
🇵🇱 Zakopane, PolandKulig
A traditional Polish winter sleigh ride party celebrated during the Carnival seasonFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreLGBTQ History Month
An annual month of education and remembrance celebrating queer lives and civil rightsCeremony
🇹🇷 Bursa, TurkeyLaylat al-Raghaibلَيْلَةُ الرّغائِب
An Islamic night of prayer and fasting at the beginning of the three sacred monthsSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Sylvester's Day
A Christian feast day and year-end celebration marked across Europe and beyondSeasonal · Dinner
🇻🇳 Hanoi, VietnamNational DayNgày Quốc khánh
Vietnam's national day, marking the 1945 independence declaration read in HanoiCeremony
🇨🇴 ColombiaLittle Candles DayDía de las velitas
Candles and paper lanterns across Colombia on the night before the Immaculate ConceptionSpiritual
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 10 moreEgg decorating
Decorating eggs with dye, wax and carving, kept at Easter, Nowruz and springCraft
🇵🇰 PakistanDefence Dayیومِ دفاع
Pakistan's national day for its soldiers, kept each 6 September with parades and tributesCeremony
🇺🇸 New York, United States and 5 moreWorld Religion Day
An annual day in January dedicated to spiritual unity and harmony across all faiths.Spiritual
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaRemembrance Day of the Latvian LegionnairesLeģionāru piemiņas diena
An annual observance in Latvia honoring soldiers from the Latvian Legion who fought during World War II.Festival
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBanned Books Week
An annual autumn campaign celebrating the freedom to read and access challenged booksCeremony
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreInternet DayDía de Internet
An annual May observance dedicated to digital access, education and online community.Ceremony
🇮🇳 Delhi, IndiaChildren's Day
An annual Indian celebration of children and their welfare held on 14 NovemberCeremony
🇵🇰 PakistanSindhi Cultural Dayسنڌي ثقافتي ڏھاڙو
An annual December celebration of Sindhi heritage, music, and traditional attireFestival
🇷🇺 Chukaly, RussiaRas'ken' OzksРаськень Озкс
A triennial gathering and ancestral prayer ritual of the Erzya people in MordoviaSpiritual
🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria and 2 moreIndependence Day
Nigeria's national day, marking the end of British rule on 1 October 1960Ceremony
🇸🇳 Dakar, Senegal and 4 moreWorld Festival of Black ArtsFestival Mondial des Arts Nègres
A recurring month-long gathering of arts, music and writing from Africa and its diasporaFestival
🇧🇬 BulgariaJuly Morning
A Bulgarian summer gathering where crowds watch the first sunrise of July with music and song.Festival
🇧🇦 Sarajevo, Bosnia and HerzegovinaIndependence Day of Bosnia and HerzegovinaDan nezavisnosti
A public holiday on 1 March marking the 1992 vote for independenceCeremony
🇸🇾 Syria and 6 moreKha b'Nisanܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ
A spring new year on 1 April, kept with parades, poems and dancing by AssyriansFestival
🇧🇬 Plovdiv, Bulgaria and 8 moreDay of Slavonic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and CultureДен на българската просвета и култура и на славянската писменост
Bulgaria's public holiday for its alphabet, schools and culture, kept each 24 MayFestival
🇰🇵 Pyongyang, North KoreaParty Foundation Day조선로동당 창건일
A national holiday in North Korea that marks the founding of its ruling party in 1945.Ceremony
🇮🇹 ItalyMeditrinalia
An ancient Roman festival on October 11 to bless the new wine harvest with libations.Festival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇵🇪 Santo Tomás, PeruTakanakuy
A December tradition in Peru where community members settle disputes through regulated fistfights and dance.Festival
🇬🇭 Anloga, Ghana and 1 moreHogbetsotso festival
An Anlo Ewe festival in Anloga recalling an escape from NotsieFestival
🇬🇭 Winneba, GhanaAboakyer festival
A deer hunt kept by the people of Winneba, Ghana, on the first Saturday in MayFestival
🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 2 moreLai Haraobaꯂꯥꯏ ꯍꯔꯥꯎꯕ
A ritual dance and music festival kept by the Meitei people to please their deities.Festival
🇳🇬 Kagoro, NigeriaAfan FestivalBwok Ǎfan
A New Year's Day festival of hunting and dances among the Oegworok peopleFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreTurońTuroń (Polish), Turoň (Slovak)
A shaggy horned beast led from house to house by carol singers at carnival timeFolklore
🇮🇳 Santiniketan, India and 1 moreRabindra Jayanti
An annual Bengali festival celebrating Rabindranath Tagore with music, drama and verseFestival
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreMeteņi
A Latvian pre-Lenten festival marking the turn of time and welcoming spring.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇧 Beirut, LebanonLebanese Independence Dayعيد الاستقلال اللبناني
Lebanon's national day, marking the end of French mandate rule in 1943Ceremony
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreDelphic Games of the modern era
Global competitions and exhibitions across the arts, modelled on ancient Greek gamesPerformance
🇦🇷 Rosario, ArgentinaFlag DayDía de la Bandera Nacional
Argentina's national day for its flag, kept on 20 June in memory of Manuel BelgranoCeremony
🇮🇳 IndiaVidyarambhamविद्यारम्भ
A Hindu rite of passage introducing young children to reading, writing and the artsRite of passage
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Defence Day: Faizanbokhari at English Wikipedia (I shot this picture myself.), Public domain, source
- Delphic Games of the modern era: Achilles Painter, Public domain, source
- Ras'ken' Ozks: Erzianj jurnalist, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Independence Day: AMISOM Public Information, CC0, source
- Day of Slavonic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Indonesian Independence Day: Betari Ratih, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- National Women's Day: K. Kendall, CC BY 2.0, source
- Little Candles Day: CarUno, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tabuik: en:User:Brakatop upload to commons by Ladsgroup, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Egg decorating: L.Kenzel, CC BY 3.0, source
- Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Smooth O, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kha b'Nisan: Athrakado, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Turoń: Museum: The Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, CC0, source
- Lebanese Independence Day: Adib Ibrahim, Public domain, source
- Lai Haraoba: Kullachandra Singh, Ngariyambam, CC0, source
- Aboakyer festival: Fquasie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feast of the Transfiguration: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Songkran: Khunmoohan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Armed Forces Day: Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0, source
- Kulig: various, Public domain, source
- Meditrinalia: Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo: GeorgePrikkel, Public domain, source
- Banned Books Week: carmichaellibrary, CC BY 2.0, source
- July Morning: Sumto, Public domain, source
- Hogbetsotso festival: JY midey, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rosalia: Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Public domain, source
- Guru Nanak Gurpurab: Giridhar Appaji Nag Y, CC BY 2.0, source
- National Day: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Party Foundation Day: David Stanley, CC BY 2.0, source
- Patronal festival: Ranieljosecastaneda, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Children's Day: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rabindra Jayanti: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt, Public domain, source
- Sindhi Cultural Day: Jogi don, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Sylvester's Day: Unknown medieval artist in Rome, Public domain, source
- Independence Day: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Meteņi: Spekozols, CC BY-SA 4.0, source