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.
🇧🇦 Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1 moreMedjugorje International Youth Festival
A six-day August gathering of Catholic youth in Medjugorje, Bosnia and HerzegovinaFestival
🇬🇷 Nicopolis, Greece and 1 moreActiaἌκτια
A festival of music, sport, and naval displays kept in ancient times to honor a Roman emperor's victory.Festival
🇷🇴 RomaniaCapra
A New Year's ritual in Romania where a masked dancer visits homes to bring luck and predict the weather.Festival
🇦🇹 Austria and 2 morePerchten
Masked midwinter walks in the Alps, with carved wooden masks and sheepskinFolklore
🇵🇱 Poland and 3 morePodłaźniczka
A decorated evergreen branch hung over the Christmas Eve table in Poland and SlovakiaFestival
🇷🇴 Bucharest, Romania and 2 moreCaloian
A Romanian rainmaking and fertility ritual centered on the creation, funeral, and rebirth of a clay effigy.Festival
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreRäucherkerze
A scented incense cone burned in German and Czech homes during the Christmas season to fill rooms with fragrance.Festival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief Night
An informal autumn evening of neighbourhood tricks, practical jokes and street pranksFestival
🇮🇹 Montepulciano, ItalyBravio delle botti
An annual uphill wine barrel race between the eight historic districts of MontepulcianoGame
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 2 moreBaltic Pride
An annual Baltic festival and human rights march rotating between Riga, Tallinn, and VilniusFestival
🇭🇺 Miskolc, HungaryKocsonya FestivalKocsonyafesztivál
An annual winter food and culture festival held in Miskolc, HungaryFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇽🇰 Pristina, KosovoDAM Festival Pristina
An annual gathering in Pristina showcasing emerging classical and contemporary musiciansPerformance
🇽🇰 Vushtrri, Kosovo and 1 moreGatherings of Poetesses in VushtrriTakimet e Poeteshave në Vushtrri
An annual literary festival celebrating female poets in Vushtrri, KosovoPerformance
🇧🇪 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
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandic weddings
A blend of church rites and long feasts, where guests sit by family lines and gifts are saved for the morning.Rite of passage · Dinner
🇪🇸 SpainGragerגראַגער (grager)
A noisemaker used by Jewish communities to drown out the name of Haman during Purim readings.Festival
🇬🇧 Worldham, United Kingdom and 5 moreJalsa Salanaجلسہ سالانہ
A three-day annual assembly for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, featuring lectures, prayers and communal meals.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreSaint Knut's DayTjugondag Knut
A Nordic holiday marking the twentieth and final day of Christmas each JanuarySeasonal · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint Thomas Aquinas
An annual Christian feast day honouring the medieval theologian Saint Thomas AquinasSpiritual
🇮🇹 Avezzano, ItalyFeast of the Madonna di PietraquariaMadonna di Pietraquaria
A three-day spring festival in Avezzano marked by neighborhood bonfires, a street fair, and a mountain-to-city processioFestival
🇬🇧 Ashbourne, United Kingdom and 1 moreRoyal Shrovetide Football
A medieval mob football game played in Ashbourne on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.Game
🇮🇹 Trieste, ItalyBarcolanaBarkovljanka
A one-start-line sailing race held each October in the Gulf of TriesteGame
🇫🇷 Cayenne, FranceCarnival of French Guiana
A weeks-long carnival of masked balls and parades, from Epiphany to Mardi GrasFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Nicholas
Boots out on 6 December: sweets for good children, a switch for the restFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇲🇰 Skopje, North MacedoniaAnother Story FestivalДруга приказна
An annual literary festival in Skopje celebrating short fiction, activism, and diverse voices.Festival
🇲🇹 MaltaFestival Kanzunetta IndipendenzaKonkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza
An annual music contest in Malta celebrating native songwriting around Independence DayPerformance
🇲🇹 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
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVenus Verticordia
A Roman cult of Venus as the turner of hearts, kept by married womenSpiritual
🇱🇺 Luxembourg City, Luxembourg and 3 moreOktavMuttergottesoktav
A two-week annual Marian pilgrimage and festival in Luxembourg CitySpiritual · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreTsiknopemptiΤσικνοπέμπτη
A Greek Carnival feast of grilled meats held on the second to last Thursday before Lent.Festival · Dinner
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreScottish folk music
Traditional ballads, fiddle tunes and bagpipe melodies from Scotland and its diasporaPerformance
🇽🇰 Prizren, KosovoDokuFest
An annual summer gathering in Prizren dedicated to non-fiction cinema and short filmsFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomHarvest Festival
An autumn thanksgiving for the crops, kept in churches and schools across the UKSeasonal · Supper
🇦🇹 Bludenz, AustriaBludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik
An international festival of contemporary classical music held annually in BludenzPerformance
🇨🇭 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
🇮🇹 Palermo, ItalyFeast of Saint RosaliaFestino di Santa Rosalia
An annual July festival in Palermo honouring the patron saint who ended the plague.Festival
🇧🇬 BulgariaSurvakaneСурвакане
A Bulgarian New Year ritual where children tap family members with decorated branches to wish them health and prosperityFestival
🇬🇧 Atherstone, United KingdomAtherstone Ball Game
An annual medieval football match played in Atherstone on Shrove Tuesday to honour a 12th-century victory.Game
🇭🇷 Metković, CroatiaŽudije
Dalmatian guardians who watch the tomb of Christ from Holy Thursday to Easter VigilSpiritual
🇪🇸 Valencia, Spain and 2 morePeineta
A curved decorative comb worn by women beneath a lace mantilla in the Hispanic worldDress
🇫🇷 Paris, FranceParis CarnivalCarnaval de Paris
An annual street celebration and costume procession across ParisFestival
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreGeorge's Day in AutumnЕгорий Осенний (Yegoriy Osenniy), Юрьев день (Yuriev den); Serbian: Ђурђиц (Đurđic)
The autumn feast of Saint George, kept at harvest's end in Slavic landsFestival
🇲🇰 Bitola, North MacedoniaManaki Brothers Film Festival
An annual international festival in Bitola honouring the craft of cinematographyFestival
🇩🇪 Munich, GermanyO'zapft is!
The civic barrel-tapping ceremony that officially launches Munich's OktoberfestCeremony · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇹 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
🇱🇺 LuxembourgCinEast
An October film festival in Luxembourg showing new cinema from Central and Eastern EuropeFestival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kocsonya Festival: Szalax, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Venus Verticordia: kladcat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Barcolana: Roberto Baroni, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feast of Saint Mark: No machine-readable author provided. Cremedia assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Actia: Flavius Hermogenes at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Capra: Michał Elwiro Andriolli, Public domain, source
- Caloian: Costică Acsinte Archive, No restrictions, source
- Perchten: Anita Martinz, CC BY 2.0, source
- Räucherkerze: Richard Huber, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- O'zapft is!: Michael Lucan, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Manaki Brothers Film Festival: US Embassy, Macedonia, Public domain, source
- George's Day in Autumn: Sergey Ivanov, Public domain, source
- Paris Carnival: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Peineta: Hiart, CC0, source
- Feast of Saint Rosalia: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Scottish folk music: Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tsiknopempti: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Podłaźniczka: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Baltic Pride: IDAHOT, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- DAM Festival Pristina: Lyra Cela, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gatherings of Poetesses in Vushtrri: Drenisa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Carnival of French Guiana: Didwin973, 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
- Scheibenschlagen: Josef Saurwein, Zams, Public domain, source
- Atherstone Ball Game: Adrian Roebuck, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse: Hoebele, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Grager: https://www.flickr.com/people/69061470@N05, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jalsa Salana: Ceddyfresse, Public domain, source
- Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feast of the Madonna di Pietraquaria: Marica Massaro, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Nicholas: Chmee2, CC BY 3.0, source
- Oktav: Daderot, CC0, source
- DokuFest: Fallbackintoreality, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Harvest Festival: Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Royal Shrovetide Football: Adrian Roebuck, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Medjugorje International Youth Festival: Piotr Frydecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source