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.
🇮🇳 Thiruvananthapuram, IndiaAttukal Pongala
A ten-day Hindu festival in Kerala where millions of women cook rice offerings in earthen pots for the goddess.Festival
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇭🇷 Hvar, CroatiaZa križen
A night procession on Hvar island where six villages walk simultaneously to honor the cross.Spiritual
🇧🇼 Gaborone, BotswanaBantu Film Festival
An annual pan-African film festival held in Botswana celebrating continental cinemaFestival
🇨🇿 Prague, CzechiaPrague SoundsStruny podzimu
An annual music festival in Prague presenting jazz, classical and electronic artistsFestival
🇱🇦 Vientiane, LaosBoun Suang Hueaບຸນຊ່ວງເຮືອ
A Lao festival of riverboat races and floating offerings at the close of Buddhist LentFestival
🇪🇪 Kuremaa, EstoniaJõgevatreff
An annual international motorcycle festival held in Kuremaa, EstoniaFestival
🇫🇷 Cayenne, FranceCarnival of French Guiana
A weeks-long carnival of masked balls and parades, from Epiphany to Mardi GrasFestival
🇵🇾 Ypacaraí, Paraguay and 5 moreFestival of the Lake YpacaraíFestival del Lago Ypacaraí
A Paraguayan folk festival celebrating national music, dance and poetry at the shores of Lake Ypacaraí.Festival
🇲🇰 Skopje, North MacedoniaAnother Story FestivalДруга приказна
An annual literary festival in Skopje celebrating short fiction, activism, and diverse voices.Festival
🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaMużika Mużika
A national song competition in Malta that selects artists for the Eurovision contest and celebrates Maltese music.Performance
🇷🇺 Moscow, RussiaSpartakiad of the Peoples of the USSRСпартакиада народов СССР
A massive multi-sport festival that brought together Soviet republics every four yearsGame
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreFlabiol
A Catalan woodwind flute played alongside a small drum in folk dancesPerformance
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint MarkFesta di san Marco
Saint Mark's day on 25 April, kept with rosebuds in Venice and harvest care in LithuaniaSpiritual
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreTaiyin Xingjun太陰星君
The Chinese moon goddess, honoured at Mid-Autumn with incense, mooncakes and prayersSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇱 Tarapacá, ChileFestival of San Lorenzo
An annual festival of religious dance and pilgrimage honoring Saint Lawrence in TarapacáSpiritual
🇵🇸 al-Khader, PalestineFeast of Saint George
An annual gathering of Palestinian Christians and Muslims honouring Saint GeorgeSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 GreeceKalanta ChristougenonΚάλαντα Χριστουγέννων
A Greek Christmas carol, sung around the feast with triangle and guitarPerformance
🇨🇭 Basel, Switzerland and 4 moreScheibenschlagen
A Central European custom where glowing wooden disks are flung from hillsides into valleys at dusk.Festival
🇷🇸 SerbiaVertepвертеп
A Serbian Orthodox Christmas Eve custom, named for the cave of the NativitySpiritual
🇬🇧 Atherstone, United KingdomAtherstone Ball Game
An annual medieval football match played in Atherstone on Shrove Tuesday to honour a 12th-century victory.Game
🇩🇿 AlgeriaWezeeaوزيعة
A communal meat-sharing custom fostering rural solidarity across AlgeriaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇫🇷 FranceBreton costume
The traditional folk dress and lace headdresses worn for festivals across BrittanyDress
🇨🇭 Zurich, SwitzerlandSwiss traditional costumeSchweizer Trachten
Distinct regional festive dress worn across the cantons of SwitzerlandDress
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreOkpu Aguokpu agụ
A knitted wool cap from southeastern Nigeria, historically worn by warriors to display status and now used in ceremoniesDress
🇵🇹 PortugalMissas do Parto
Nine morning Masses in Madeira that follow Mary through the last days of her pregnancySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaDhundhढुन्ढ
A Hindu ritual in Rajasthan where infants are symbolically married to Holika on Holi to ward off mischief.Festival
🇮🇳 Palani, India and 1 moreSurasamharamSūrasaṃhāram
A temple performance of Murugan's victory, ending the week-long Kanda Shashti fastSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomLincolnshire Day
An annual county day on 1 October honouring the history and culture of LincolnshireCeremony
🇬🇧 Sheffield, United KingdomOld Tup
A midwinter folk drama with a ram disguise from the English East MidlandsFolklore
🇨🇾 Nicosia, Cyprus and 1 moreInternational Festival of Ancient Greek Drama
An annual summer gathering in Cyprus staging classical Greek plays in historic open arenasPerformance
🇽🇰 Gjilan, KosovoFlaka e Janarit
A winter arts festival in Kosovo honoring national martyrs through music, drama and verseFestival
🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi Science Festival
An annual science festival in the United Arab Emirates with hands-on workshops and showsFestival
🇰🇳 Charlestown, Saint Kitts and NevisCulturama
An annual summer carnival celebrating Nevisian heritage and returning islandersFestival
🇲🇹 Floriana, MaltaIsle of MTV
A major free summer open-air pop and electronic music gathering held in MaltaFestival
🇧🇪 BelgiumMarches of Entre-Sambre-et-MeuseMarches de l'Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse
Folk processions with armed escorts in Belgian villages, kept from May to OctoberSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇧🇧 Oistins, BarbadosOistins Fish Festival
An annual Easter celebration in Oistins, Barbados, honoring the local fishing community with food and folk games.Festival · Dinner
🇿🇲 Muyombe, ZambiaVinkhakanimba
An annual gathering and dance celebration of the Tumbuka people in northeastern ZambiaFestival
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreIslamic marital practices
Islamic wedding customs, from matchmaking and mahr to the nikah contract and walima feast.Rite of passage
🇲🇼 Bolero, MalawiGonapamhanya festival
An annual gathering of the Tumbuka people honouring their first paramount chiefFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreArab weddingزفاف or عرس
A series of ceremonies marking marriage in Arab culture, blending religious rites with regional customs.Rite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaRiga International Short Film Festival 2ANNASRīgas Starptautiskais īsfilmu festivāls 2ANNAS
An annual autumn film competition and screening event held in Riga, LatviaPerformance
🇿🇲 Lundazi, ZambiaZengani
An annual October gathering of Tumbuka and Ngoni communities in eastern Zambia to celebrate unity through traditional daFestival
🇲🇬 Antananarivo, MadagascarSavika
Traditional Betsileo zebu wrestling and courtship rite in MadagascarGame
🇱🇧 Byblos, LebanonByblos International Festival
An annual summer music and arts festival held in the historic port town of Byblos, Lebanon.Festival
🇺🇸 Buffalo, United States and 1 moreTurkey trot
A holiday footrace, often run in turkey costume and usually for charityFestival
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaAgeraआगेरा
Mumbai's East Indian Catholics give thanks for the harvest on the first Sunday of OctoberFestival
🇱🇧 Beirut, LebanonBeirut International Women Film Festival
An annual cinema festival in Beirut celebrating films made by and about womenPerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Zajal: 13th century artist, Public domain, source
- Kavadi Aattam: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Gonapamhanya festival: Tumbuka Arch, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Isle of MTV: Continentaleurope, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Flaka e Janarit: E Sadiku, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Missas do Parto: Porto Bay Events, CC BY 2.0, source
- Feast of Saint Mark: No machine-readable author provided. Cremedia assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Flabiol: P0mbal, CC0, source
- Jõgevatreff: Aleksei Malogin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Za križen: E.mil.mil, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Attukal Pongala: Maheshsudhakar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Boun Suang Huea: ClaireM1FLERéunion, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Carnival of French Guiana: Didwin973, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Festival of the Lake Ypacaraí: Level4, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Another Story Festival: Vancho Dzambaski, CC0, source
- Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR: Scanning Dmitry Makeev , scan date - 2020 year., Public domain, source
- Taiyin Xingjun: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Festival of San Lorenzo: Freddy Alexander Bugueño Tolmo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of Saint George: Onceinawhile, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Scheibenschlagen: Josef Saurwein, Zams, Public domain, source
- Atherstone Ball Game: Adrian Roebuck, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Breton costume: XIIIfromTOKYO, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Swiss traditional costume: Robertuswiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Okpu Agu: Justice kelechi achinefu, CC0, source
- Old Tup: Doyle of London, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse: Hoebele, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Islamic marital practices: Saddam19, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Savika: Obiniaina RANDRIANADRASANA, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Turkey trot: "A. A. Brack, S. A. Texas" ("S. A." = San Antonio?)., Public domain, source
- Agera: Tiven Gonsalves, CC BY-SA 4.0, source