Fasting and feasting around the world: a comparison by country

Fasting and feasting belong together. Most of the world's great faiths set aside days or seasons for going without, and nearly all follow them with a meal of celebration. The fast may be a month of daylight abstinence, a day of water, forty days of meatless eating or a single meal given up. The feast that follows is often the best food of the year. Together they shape the calendar, teach discipline and generosity, and bring families and neighbours to one table. This page looks at how different peoples fast, break the fast and celebrate afterwards, and how the habits are changing.

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

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia

Ramadan is a month of fasting from dawn to sunset, broken with dates and water at the iftar, then a meal. Eid al-Fitr ends it with prayers, new clothes, sweets and gifts to children.

Ramadan, being written

🇪🇬 Egypt

Lanterns called fanous hang in the streets in Ramadan, and long tables for the poor, mawa'id al-rahman, are set out for the iftar. A cannon announces sunset, and sweet qatayef pancakes are a specialty.

Read: Fanous

🇹🇷 Turkey

Drummers walk the neighbourhoods before dawn to wake people for the sahur, and the iftar is broken with dates, olives and the flat pide bread of Ramadan. Mosque lights are strung between minarets.

Ramadan, being written

🇮🇳 India

Hindus keep Ekadashi, the eleventh day of each fortnight, and Navratri, with fruit, milk and special flours. Jain fasting during Paryushana can last eight days or more, and the Digambara Jains keep strict rules throughout.

Ekadashi, being written

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka

Buddhists keep Poya days, the full-moon days, with observance of eight precepts, white clothes and visits to the temple, and the day is a public holiday. The Vesak festival is the most important of them.

Read: Poya

🇮🇱 Israel and the Jewish world

Yom Kippur is a 25-hour fast with no food or water, spent largely in prayer. Fast days such as Tisha B'Av recall losses in Jewish history, and the break-fast meal includes bagels, fish and sweet kugel.

Read: Yom Kippur

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

Who is excused from fasting?

Most traditions excuse children, the elderly, the sick, pregnant and nursing women, and travellers. Many ask them to make it up later or give to charity instead.

Is fasting always about food?

Not always. Some traditions fast from speech, from certain kinds of food, from entertainment or from particular acts, as well as from eating.

What is a break-fast meal?

The first meal after a fast, often simple and light at the start, such as dates and water for Ramadan, and fuller afterwards. It is usually shared with family and guests.

Why is the feast after a fast so important?

It closes the observance with gratitude and joy, and it brings the community back to ordinary life together. In many faiths it is a duty to feast as much as to fast.

Is it polite to eat in front of someone who is fasting?

Usually yes, in a private setting, as people who fast do not expect others to stop eating. Hosts and colleagues often offer a quiet space and are considerate about timing.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Eid al-Fitr: Mohammed Tawsif Salam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Rama Navami: Adityamadhav83, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Maha Shivaratri: Navneesh Ramessur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Chhath Puja: Steffen Gauger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Maslenitsa: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Naga Panchami: No machine-readable author provided. Krish Dulal assumed (based on cop, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Navaratri: Mukerjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Govardhan Puja: Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, source

Akshaya Tritiya: Fgndgndgnr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Dahi Handi: AKS.9955, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Lent: Manuela Paki-Costa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Gangaur: Avinashmaurya, CC BY 3.0, source

Magh Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY 2.0, source

Thiruvathira: Kalakki at Malayalam Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, source

Vallam Kali: Arun Sinha, CC BY 2.0, source

Narasimha Jayanti: anonymous, Public domain, source

Ahoi Ashtami: आशीष भटनागर, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Kavadi Aattam: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source

Diwali: Kalli navya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Parashurama Jayanti: Rajasekhar1961, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Nativity of Mary: Giotto, Public domain, source

Attukal Pongala: Maheshsudhakar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Thaipusam: hams Nocete, CC BY-SA 2.0, source

Paryushana: Aayush18, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Mahavir Janma Kalyanak: Francis Harry Roy S, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Mardi Gras: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Dashain: Unknown author, CC0, source

Karva Chauth: Iamwiki001, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Yom Kippur: Maurycy Gottlieb, Public domain, source

Sharad Purnima: ShotgunMavericks, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Chaand Raat: Phadke09, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Sinhala New Year: Anna Anichkova, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Vat Purnima: Kiran Gopi, CC BY-SA 2.5 in, source

Madhushravani: Monika Jha, CC0, source

Krishna Janmashtami: Nvvchar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Fasting and feasting