Fasting and feasting

What it is for

Believers describe fasting as a way of turning attention from the body to prayer, of remembering the poor, of showing penitence or of preparing for a sacred day. It also brings people together, since many fast at the same time and share in the effort. The feast that ends the fast reverses the mood, and gives thanks for what has been received. The contrast is the point: going without teaches gratitude for plenty, and plenty is made sweeter after going without. Fasting is a personal discipline within a communal calendar, and people who are ill, young, old or travelling are generally excused.

Common elements across cultures

A fast usually has a clear start and end, with a particular meal before and after. Rules differ: no food or drink from dawn to dusk in Ramadan, no meat or dairy in Orthodox Lent, one meal a day on a Hindu Ekadashi, or no food at all on Yom Kippur. Many fasts are followed by shared meals to which neighbours and the poor are invited. Almsgiving and charity go with them. Some fasts are tied to the moon, others to a season, a saint or a festival, and many ask the faster to avoid arguments and to be gentle.

Food, dress and music

Fasting foods are often simple: dates and water, lentil soup, bread, potatoes, fruit, buckwheat. The feasts are rich, with roast meat, sweets, pastries, spiced rice and drinks. Dress is plain for the fast, and new or white clothes are worn for the feast. Music is quiet during the fast in many traditions, with chant and prayer, and loud at the feast, with drums, songs and dance. Late evening markets, cannon shots to announce the breaking of the fast and special television programmes have become part of Ramadan in many countries.

How it is changing

Many people now fast for reasons beyond religion, including health and mindfulness, and intermittent fasting has become a popular practice. Religious fasts have adapted to modern working life, with office iftars, fasting-friendly menus and shared meals in public places. In some places, such as London, Istanbul and Jakarta, community iftars have become open events for neighbours of every faith. Stricter fasts, such as the full Orthodox Lent, are kept by a smaller proportion of people, while the feast days remain widely popular.

Fasting and feasting around the world

Compare all 19 places

Traditions to start with

Eid al-FitrThe feast that ends Ramadan.LentForty days before Easter.Yom KippurThe Jewish Day of Atonement.ParyushanaThe Jain festival of fasting.MaslenitsaThe Russian pancake week.Mardi GrasThe feast before Lent.

Also part of it, and being written: Ramadan (The month of fasting in Islam.), Ekadashi (The Hindu day of partial fasting.).

Questions people ask