Folklore and belief
Legends, superstitions, charms and customs of luck.
Folklore and belief gather the legends, charms, superstitions and customs of luck that people live by: knocking on wood, the evil eye, the tooth fairy, the black dog on the moor, the fox spirit of Japan, the spirits of the forest. These are not formal religion but a living layer of stories and habits, told by grandparents and kept alive in jokes, rhymes and small rituals. EveryParampara describes them as folklore, in the way those who keep them describe them, and takes no position on whether they are true.
Tales and creatures
Every region has its stories of giants, fairies, trolls, tricksters, ghosts and talking animals, often explaining a hill, a river or a custom. They are told to entertain and to teach, and collectors such as the Brothers Grimm and local folklorists have written many down. The same tale types appear across continents, with local details, which scholars have long studied. Storytelling nights, festivals and schools keep them in circulation.
Luck and protection
Customs of luck and protection are the small daily rituals: spilling salt, a horseshoe over the door, a red thread, a coin in the fountain, a lucky number. They answer the wish for some control in an uncertain world and are often kept with a smile. Some have a practical origin, and others are echoes of older beliefs. EveryParampara notes traditional use as tradition and offers no medical or financial advice.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Folklore and belief (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.
🇮🇪 Uisneach, Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine
A Gaelic first-of-summer festival of bonfires, May flowers and feasting on 1 MaySeasonal
🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary and 3 moreTáncház
A Hungarian folk dance gathering where anyone can learn the steps and dance to live musicPerformance
🇬🇧 Brockworth, United KingdomCooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
A round of cheese, a steep hill, and runners chasing it down for the prizeGame
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 3 moreBanitsaБаница
A layered Bulgarian cheese pastry baked for morning meals and holiday fortunesTable custom · Breakfast
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 2 moreGerman CarnivalKarneval
Pre-Lenten street parades, costume balls and local revels across German-speaking lands.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaZiemassvētki
Latvia's midwinter festival of solstice customs, mumming and tree decorationSeasonal
🇱🇺 Luxembourg and 3 moreBuergbrennen
A bonfire festival marking the end of winter on the first Sunday of Lent in LuxembourgSeasonal
🇦🇱 Albania and 2 moreBesaBesë
A pledge of honour that an Albanian gives once and must never breakEtiquette
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 3 moreMalankaМаланка
A Ukrainian folk celebration of masked mummers, feasting and New Year blessingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇸 IcelandYule LadsJólasveinarnir
Thirteen mischievous brothers who visit Icelandic homes in the nights leading to Yule.Folklore
🇱🇹 LithuaniaUžgavėnės
A Lithuanian winter-ending festival of masks, mock battles and pancakesFestival
🇱🇹 LithuaniaSaint Jonas's FestivalJoninės
A Lithuanian midsummer night of bonfires, wreaths, song and morning dewSeasonal
🇮🇪 Killorglin, IrelandPuck FairAonach an Phoic
An annual Kerry gathering centred on the crowning of a mountain goat.Festival
🇧🇪 Aalst, BelgiumAalst CarnivalAalst Carnaval
A three-day street carnival of satire, costumed parades and folk rituals in AalstFestival
🇲🇹 Nadur, MaltaNadur Carnival
An unscripted five-day costume festival filling the streets of Nadur before LentFestival
🇦🇱 Albania and 1 moreKanunKanû
Albanian customary law kept by word of mouth, centred on honour and the given wordEtiquette
🇸🇮 Ptuj, Slovenia and 1 moreKurentovanje
A rite of spring and carnival in Ptuj with masked bell-ringers chasing winter awayFestival
🇧🇪 Brussels, BelgiumMeyboomMaâbuum
An annual Brussels parade and ceremonial tree planting held every AugustFestival
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumCarnival of BincheCarnaval de Binche
A Belgian pre-Lenten festival known for masked dancers and orange tossingFestival
🇪🇸 SpainOlentzero
A Basque Christmas tradition of a charcoal burner bringing presents in midwinterFestival
🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain and 4 moreCaganerEl Caganer
A defecating figurine placed in Catalan nativity scenes to bring good luck and fertilize the earth.Festival
🇵🇱 Kraków, PolandLajkonikLajkoniki
An annual hobby-horse pageant through the streets of Kraków each JuneFestival
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumGillesGille
Costumed carnival figures of Binche and surrounding Belgian townsFestival
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreTió de Nadal
A Catalan Christmas tradition where a decorated log is fed and beaten to produce small gifts for children.Festival
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreImmortal RegimentБессмертный полк (Bessmertnyy polk)
A civic procession where people carry portraits of relatives who served in the Second World War.Festival
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreWren DayLá an Dreoilín
A Saint Stephen's Day custom where groups parade a stuffed wren on a decorated pole through their community.Festival
🇮🇪 Killorglin, Ireland and 1 moreLughnasadhLúnasa
A Gaelic festival marking the start of harvest with feasts, fairs and mountain walksSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreMaypole
A tall wooden pole, garlanded and danced around, raised at May Day, Whitsun or MidsummerFestival
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreMartenitsaмартеница
Red and white yarn dolls worn from 1 March until spring shows itselfFestival
🇵🇹 Barcelos, Portugal and 1 moreRooster of BarcelosGalo de Barcelos
A Portuguese tale of a roast rooster that crowed to clear an innocent manFolklore
🇮🇪 Dublin, IrelandShamrockseamróg
A small three-leaved clover, worn in Ireland on St Patrick's Day as a national emblemFolklore
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 4 moreKukeriкукери (kukeri)
Masked and belled figures who tour Bulgarian villages at New Year to drive off harmSpiritual
🇩🇪 Aachen, Germany and 4 moreStraw bearStrohbär
A carnival figure wrapped in straw, paraded through German towns to mark the end of winter.Festival
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreZaduszkiZaduszki, Dzień Zaduszny
A Polish day of prayer for the dead on 2 November, kept with candles at the gravesSpiritual
🇷🇺 Dymkovo, RussiaDymkovo toysДымковская игрушка
Painted clay people, animals and whistles, shaped by women in Dymkovo near KirovCraft
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 1 moreBaba MartaБаба Марта
A Bulgarian day on 1 March, when red and white martenitsi are given and wornFestival
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 3 moreZwarte Piet
Saint Nicholas's companion in the Low Countries, who hands out sweets to childrenFolklore · Sweets given and shared
🇪🇸 SpainCorrefoc
Devil-costumed fire runs through the streets of Catalan and Valencian festival townsFestival
🇦🇹 Austria and 5 moreKrampus
Saint Nicholas's horned companion, who comes for misbehaving children on 5 DecemberFolklore
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreKallikantzarosκαλικάντζαρος
A malevolent goblin of Greek and Balkan folklore, active in the Christmas season.Folklore
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreTopping out
A builders' rite for the day the last beam goes up, marked with a tree, a flag and a toastCraft
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 morePolterabend
Guests smash porcelain the night before a wedding to wish the couple luckRite of passage
🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Monday
England's old start of the farming year, kept with ploughs, straw bears and sword dancesSeasonal
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreTracht
Traditional dress of the German-speaking regions, from lederhosen to the dirndlDress
🇬🇧 Yorkshire, United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief NightNoson Ddrygioni (Welsh); Oidhche nan Cleas (Scottish Gaelic)
An evening of pranks and tricks, kept before Halloween or Guy Fawkes NightFestival
🇩🇰 Denmark and 3 moreNissenisse (Danish, Norwegian); tomte (Swedish); tonttu (Finnish)
A small farm spirit of Nordic folklore, given porridge at midwinterFolklore
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreSwabian-Alemannic FastnachtFastnacht
A late-winter carnival of masks and jesters kept before Lent in the Alemannic landsFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreVasilopitaΒασιλόπιτα
A New Year bread or cake with a coin baked inside, shared out slice by sliceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Beltane: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake: Dave Farrance, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Banitsa: Sheku80, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- German Carnival: Neva Micheva, CC BY 2.5, source
- Buergbrennen: luxpim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Malanka: Viktoriyasechkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yule Lads: Lusinemarg, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Užgavėnės: Algirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia, GFDL, source
- Saint Jonas's Festival: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Puck Fair: Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Aalst Carnival: Wikisid, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nadur Carnival: Thyes, Public domain, source
- Kanun: Lekë Dukagjini & Shtjefën Gjeçovi, Public domain, source
- Kurentovanje: Aleš Kravos, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Meyboom: Henxter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Carnival of Binche: Marie-Claire, CC BY 3.0, source
- Olentzero: Josu Goñi Etxabe, Public domain, source
- Caganer: Roeland P., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lajkonik: Igor123121, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tió de Nadal: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Immortal Regiment: Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0, source
- Wren Day: Manx James, CC0, source
- Lughnasadh: Mountainash333, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maypole: Uploaded by Mikael Häggström, CC0, source
- Martenitsa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rooster of Barcelos: Adriculas, Public domain, source
- Shamrock: Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kukeri: Nenko Lazarov, CC BY 2.5, source
- Straw bear: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Zaduszki: Ivan Mrkvička, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dymkovo toys: Georg Pik, Public domain, source
- Zwarte Piet: The illustrator is Daan Hoeksma, who died in 1935. The author is liste, Public domain, source
- Correfoc: Calvesklein, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Krampus: Naturpuur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kallikantzaros: Katolophyromai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Topping out: PKS at Danish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Polterabend: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Plough Monday: Rawpixel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tracht: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nisse: AlphaZeta, CC0, source
- Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source