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.
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 1 moreBaba MartaБаба Марта
A Bulgarian day on 1 March, when red and white martenitsi are given and wornFestival
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 4 moreBabindenБабинден
A Bulgarian feast honoring midwives and new mothers with rituals of bathing, feasting, and blessing.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreMaypole
A tall wooden pole, garlanded and danced around, raised at May Day, Whitsun or MidsummerFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 morePolterabend
Guests smash porcelain the night before a wedding to wish the couple luckRite of passage
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreBonfire Night
Yearly nights of bonfires and fireworks, kept in Britain, Ireland and beyondFestival
🇬🇧 Brockworth, United KingdomCooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
A round of cheese, a steep hill, and runners chasing it down for the prizeGame
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreŚwięconka
The Polish Holy Saturday blessing of baskets filled with Easter morning foodSpiritual
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain
A Gaelic festival marking the start of winter with bonfires and ancestor feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 Killorglin, Ireland and 1 moreLughnasadhLúnasa
A Gaelic festival marking the start of harvest with feasts, fairs and mountain walksSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain and 1 moreSardana
A Catalan circle dance, danced hand in hand to an eleven-player cobla bandPerformance
🇮🇪 Dublin, IrelandShamrockseamróg
A small three-leaved clover, worn in Ireland on St Patrick's Day as a national emblemFolklore
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 4 moreSinterklaasSinterklaas / Sint-Nicolaas
A Dutch winter feast on 5 and 6 December, when Saint Nicholas brings gifts to childrenFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 3 moreZwarte Piet
Saint Nicholas's companion in the Low Countries, who hands out sweets to childrenFolklore · Sweets given and shared
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreCrayfish partykräftskiva
Boiled crayfish, snaps and paper lanterns at a late-summer party in Sweden and FinlandTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreSmorgasbordsmörgåsbord
A Swedish table of hot and cold dishes where guests serve themselvesTable custom · Lunch
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 5 moreCarnival
A season of parades, masks and feasting in the days before LentFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇦 UkraineTraditional Ukrainian wedding
A wedding spread over many days, with matchmaking, bread, wreaths and songRite of passage
🇩🇰 Roskilde, DenmarkRoskilde Festival
A week-long Danish music festival south of Roskilde, run by volunteers since 1971Festival
🇳🇱 Landgraaf, NetherlandsPinkpop
A three-day pop and rock festival in the Netherlands, held on the Pentecost weekendFestival
🇮🇪 Dublin, IrelandBarmbrackbairín breac
A sweet Irish fruit loaf with charms baked in, eaten at Halloween and on New Year's EveTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇬🇷 Olympia, GreeceAncient Olympic Gamesτὰ Ὀλύμπια
A quadrennial athletic festival held in ancient Greece to honor the god ZeusGame
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalySaturnalia
A December festival of ancient Rome, with feasting, gifts, gambling and role reversalSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Eleusis, Greece and 1 moreEleusinian MysteriesἘλευσίνια Μυστήρια
Secret annual initiations in ancient Greece dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, promising a blessed afterlife.Spiritual
🇬🇷 GreeceSymposiumσυμπόσιον
An ancient Greek post-meal gathering for diluted wine, debate, music and lively gamesTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyBacchanalia
An ancient Roman mystery festival dedicated to the god of wine and ecstasyFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTowel Day
An annual worldwide celebration on 25 May honouring the author Douglas Adams.Festival
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreVictory in Europe Day8 mai 1945
The day Nazi Germany's surrender was accepted, marking the end of the war in EuropeCeremony
🇩🇪 Berlin, GermanyGerman Unity DayTag der Deutschen Einheit
Germany's national day, marking reunification on 3 October 1990Ceremony
🇷🇺 Moscow, RussiaCosmonautics DayДень космонавтики
Russia's yearly day for Yuri Gagarin's 1961 flight, kept on 12 April with memorial walksCeremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 6 moreSaint George's Day
A saint's feast on 23 April, kept by churches and patron nations from England to GeorgiaSpiritual
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreVisitation
A Christian feast commemorating Mary's journey to visit her cousin ElizabethSpiritual
🇩🇪 Wittenberg, Germany and 5 moreReformation Day
An annual Christian observance marking the start of the Protestant ReformationSpiritual
🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineIndependence Day of UkraineДень Незалежності України
Ukraine's national day, kept every 24 August with parades and flagsCeremony
🇬🇧 St Andrews, United Kingdom and 10 moreSaint Andrew's DayLà Naomh Anndrais
The feast of Andrew the Apostle, kept on 30 November and Scotland's national daySpiritual
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreOld New YearСтарый Новый год (Russian), Стара Нова година (Macedonian), Српска Нова година (Serbian), Hen Galan (Welsh)
An informal holiday marking the start of the Julian calendar year, celebrated on 14 January in the Gregorian calendar.Festival · Dinner
🇵🇱 Warsaw, PolandNational Independence DayNarodowe Święto Niepodległości
Poland's national day on 11 November, marking the 1918 return of a sovereign Polish stateCeremony
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreYuri's Night
An annual global celebration on April 12 marking milestones in space explorationFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 4 moreMarian feast days
Holy days across the liturgical year celebrating the life and veneration of Mary.Spiritual
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 5 moreNativity of John the Baptist
A Christian feast day on June 24 that marks the birth of John the Baptist and anticipates Christmas.Festival
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreGrandparents' Day
A single-day holiday kept on different dates in many countries to honour grandparentsFestival
🇷🇺 Mordovia, Russia and 2 moreErzya Language DayЭрзянь келень чи
A yearly day for the Erzya language, held on 16 April, the birthday of Anatoli RyabovFestival
🇩🇪 Kiel, GermanyKiel WeekKieler Woche
A week of yacht racing, tall ships and waterfront music on the Kiel FjordGame
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTwelve Days of Christmas
A festive Christian liturgical season linking Christmas Day to the eve of EpiphanySeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Athens, Greece and 2 moreDionysian Mysteries
Ancient Greek and Roman initiation rites of wine, ecstatic dance and spiritual rebirthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreDozhinkiDożynki
A Slavic harvest festival of the last sheaf, a woven wreath and a shared mealSeasonal
🇪🇸 Spain and 4 moreDay of the Holy InnocentsDía de los Santos Inocentes
A 28 December day of pranks and fake news, kept in the Spanish-speaking worldFestival
🇩🇰 Denmark and 1 moreQuinquagesima
The last Sunday before Lent in Western Christianity, marking the start of Carnival and Shrovetide.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 Goodwood, United KingdomGoodwood Festival of Speed
A yearly British motorsport festival where cars and bikes race up a hill in West SussexFestival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Victory in Europe Day: Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0, source
- Reformation Day: 95Thesen.jpg : User:Shizhao derivative work: 6birc ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Martenitsa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Roskilde Festival: Bill Ebbesen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pinkpop: Gianni Taranto, CC BY 3.0, source
- Eleusinian Mysteries: No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyrig, Public domain, source
- Saint George's Day: Raphael, Public domain, source
- Independence Day of Ukraine: Official website of the President of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0, source
- Erzya Language Day: Erzianj jurnalist, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cosmonautics Day: The original uploader was Errabee at English Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Grandparents' Day: Wendy Berry, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kiel Week: Arne List, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Day of the Holy Innocents: Attributed to Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Public domain, source
- Dozhinki: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ancient Olympic Games: Bgabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bacchanalia: Nicolas Poussin, Public domain, source
- Symposium: Nikias Painter, CC BY 2.5, source
- Towel Day: Bischy174, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yuri's Night: Ryan Somma, CC BY 2.0, source
- Old New Year: ceridwen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Marian feast days: © Ralph Hammann - Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nativity of John the Baptist: Brakeet, CC0, source
- Twelve Days of Christmas: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Quinquagesima: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Dionysian Mysteries: Tilemahos Efthimiadis, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saint Andrew's Day: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
- German Unity Day: Philipp Hertzog Bearbeitet von Dr. Meierhofer (beschnitten, aufgehellt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
- National Independence Day: Patryk Matyjaszczyk, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Visitation: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Babinden: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Maypole: Uploaded by Mikael Häggström, CC0, source
- Polterabend: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bonfire Night: Jpdfive, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake: Dave Farrance, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Święconka: Błażej Benisz, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source
- Lughnasadh: Mountainash333, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sardana: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shamrock: Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sinterklaas: R.F. (Roel) Jorna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zwarte Piet: The illustrator is Daan Hoeksma, who died in 1935. The author is liste, Public domain, source
- Crayfish party: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Smorgasbord: Jordan Klein, CC BY 2.0, source
- Carnival: Etienne Le Cocq, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Goodwood Festival of Speed: Bruno Postle, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Barmbrack: Solo Beckett, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Traditional Ukrainian wedding: Пимоненко, Николай Корнильевич, Public domain, source