When the crop is in, people celebrate.
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When the crop is in, people celebrate. Harvest festivals are among the oldest in the world, and nearly every farming society has one. They give thanks for food, share it among neighbours, bless the next sowing and let hard-working communities rest. The forms are very varied: a Thanksgiving turkey in North America, a Chuseok table of rice cakes in Korea, the Pongal pot boiling over in South India, a yam festival in West Africa, a Lammas loaf in England. What they have in common is gratitude and plenty. Many have been kept for thousands of years, and many are still the highlight of the village calendar.
For farming families the harvest is the moment when a year's work becomes food and income. A festival gives thanks to the sun, rain, earth, gods or ancestors that made it possible, and asks for the same next year. It is also a time of rest, reunion and generosity, when workers and landlords share a meal and the poor are fed. The festival marks the turn of the farming year, and often falls on a day fixed by the moon or the sun. Today it keeps a link between town and country for people who no longer farm.
The first fruits or first sheaf are often offered to the gods, a priest or the ancestors before anyone eats. Houses and places of worship are decorated with grain, fruit and flowers. A communal feast is common, with the best produce of the season. Songs, dances and games follow, and some places hold markets and competitions for the biggest vegetable. Many harvest customs involve the last sheaf, which is plaited into a figure and kept until spring. Rest from work, new clothes and visits to family are the other regular features.
Harvest food is whatever has just been gathered: new rice, new yam, maize, apples, wheat, grapes, pumpkins and nuts. The dishes are often the simplest, cooked in the open or in the first pot of the year. Festival dress ranges from the new clothes of Korea and India to the straw costumes of European harvest figures. Music is lively, with drums, pipes, fiddles and songs of the fields, and dances often mimic sowing, reaping or threshing. Many places have a harvest queen or king chosen from the young people.
Mechanised farming has made the harvest less of a communal effort, but the festivals remain, now often a celebration of local food and of the countryside. Churches, schools and towns hold harvest suppers and food drives, and many harvest festivals now collect for food banks. Urban dwellers travel home to the village for the festival, as in the big migrations before Chuseok and Pongal. Tourism has made some festivals famous, and organisers work to keep them true to their meaning, with locals still at the centre of the day.
Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Makar Sankranti in the north, Bihu in Assam and Lohri in Punjab all mark the winter harvest in mid-January. At Pongal, new rice is boiled in milk until it overflows, and a cry of "Pongalo Pongal" is raised.
Read: PongalChuseok falls on the full moon of the eighth lunar month, and families return home to honour ancestors, eat songpyeon rice cakes and share the first rice of the year. It is one of the largest travel periods in the country.
Read: ChuseokThe Mid-Autumn Festival is the harvest moon festival, when families gather to admire the full moon and share mooncakes. Lanterns are lit, and stories of the moon goddess Chang'e are told.
Read: Mid-Autumn FestivalTet Trung Thu is a children's festival with lanterns, lion dances and mooncakes at the autumn moon. Rice farmers also hold offerings after the harvest in many northern villages.
Read: Mid-Autumn FestivalRice goddess Dewi Sri is honoured at harvest on Java and Bali, with offerings of the first sheaves, and the seren taun in Sundanese villages brings processions, dancing and rice pounding. The festival is a way of thanking the goddess for the harvest, and the first rice is shared among all the families of the village.
Dewi Sri, being writtenRtveli is the grape harvest in autumn, when families and friends pick grapes, press them in clay qvevri and feast. The wine makers' tradition is on UNESCO's list.
Read: Rtveli
ThanksgivingThe American harvest feast.
ChuseokThe Korean autumn harvest festival.
PongalThe Tamil harvest festival.
Mid-Autumn FestivalThe harvest moon festival.
SukkotThe Jewish harvest festival.
New Yam FestivalWest African first fruits.
Harvest festivalThe German harvest thanksgiving.Harvest festivalThe British church tradition.The harvest moon gave extra light for gathering crops in the evening, and many calendars are based on the moon. Chuseok and the Mid-Autumn Festival both follow it.
No. In the tropics there are several harvests a year, and Pongal and Makar Sankranti come in January. The festival follows the main crop of each region.
It is a gesture of thanks to the gods, spirits or ancestors, and a way of saying that the harvest is a gift. Many cultures forbid eating the new crop before the rite.
A communal meal held after the harvest, often in a village hall or church, where the community shares the produce and the work is acknowledged.
Many do, by travelling to the village for the festival, by cooking the festival dish at home or by attending a market or church service in town.
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.
The traditions written up so far, best known first.
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 4 moreKukeriкукери (kukeri)
Masked and belled figures who tour Bulgarian villages at New Year to drive off harmSpiritual
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The three-day Thai New Year festival marked by water rituals and blessings for eldersFestival
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreChuseok추석
A Korean harvest festival of ancestral rites, seasonal rice cakes, and folk gamesFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanDaijō-sai大嘗祭
The emperor's once-in-a-reign Shinto rite of thanks for the rice harvestSpiritual
🇿🇦 Nongoma, South AfricaUmkhosi Wokweshwama
The annual Zulu first fruits and harvest festival held around the December solsticeSeasonal
🇪🇹 Addis Ababa, EthiopiaIrreechaIrreessa
A thanksgiving festival at sacred lakes in Oromia, Ethiopia, at the end of the rainsFestival
🇮🇹 Florence, ItalyScoppio del Carro
An Easter Sunday fireworks display ignited by a flying dove in FlorenceFestival
🇲🇾 Kelantan, Malaysia and 2 moreMak yongTarian Mak Yong (Jawi: مق يوڠ)
A dance-drama of Kelantan and Patani, told in song, music and improvised speechPerformance
🇳🇬 Abuja, NigeriaNew Yam FestivalIri ji
A yearly harvest thanksgiving across Nigeria, when the first new yams may be eatenFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreSukkahסוכה
A temporary hut with a branch roof, lived in for the seven days of SukkotSpiritual
🇨🇳 Dali, ChinaThird Month Fair三月街
A mountain-foot bazaar, festival, and sports gathering among the Bai in YunnanFestival
🇬🇭 GhanaAdae Festival
A sacred day of rest and ancestral rites observed across the Ashanti Region in GhanaSpiritual
🇬🇪 GeorgiaAlaverdobaალავერდობა
A harvest and saint's feast celebrated at Alaverdi Cathedral in eastern GeorgiaSpiritual
🇩🇿 Tiaret, Algeria and 1 moreMawsimموسم
An annual regional festival and pilgrimage across Northwest AfricaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptBeautiful Festival of the Valleyhb nfr n jnt
An ancient Egyptian festival honouring the dead with river processions across ThebesSpiritual
🇹🇼 TaiwanFlying Fish Festival飛魚祭
A months-long seasonal fishing observance kept by the Tao people of Orchid IslandSeasonal
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival
A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇰 Anuradhapura, Sri LankaSinhala New Yearඅලුත් අවුරුද්ද
The April solar New Year and harvest festival celebrated across Sri LankaSeasonal
🇺🇸 United StatesGreen Corn CeremonyPuskita
A Southeastern harvest and new year ceremony of fasting, dancing and renewalSeasonal
🇺🇸 United StatesMakahiki
A four-month Hawaiian new year season of peace, harvest gifts, feasts and gamesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United KingdomLammashlāfmæsse
A harvest festival marking the blessing of the first baked bread from the new wheat cropSeasonal
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain
A Gaelic festival marking the start of winter with bonfires and ancestor feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 1 moreManipuri danceJagoi Raas, Raas Jagoi
A classical dance from Manipur, danced as an offering to Radha and KrishnaPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNativity of Mary
A Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusSpiritual · Lunch
🇬🇷 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
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreRogation days
Springtime Christian days of prayer, fasting, and parish boundary walks.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVinalia
Ancient Roman festivals honoring Jupiter and Venus with wine libations to bless the harvest and ensure good weather.Festival
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 8 moreSaint Joseph's Day
A 19 March feast honouring Jesus' earthly father, kept with altars and processionsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇲 Armenia and 5 moreFeast of the TransfigurationՊայծառակերպութիւն
A Christian holy day marking the revelation of Christ's divine glory on Mount TaborSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The Thai solar New Year marked by temple rites, elder blessings and water throwingSeasonal
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPooram
An annual Kerala temple festival with percussion orchestras, elephants and fireworksFestival
🇳🇬 Kagoro, NigeriaAfan FestivalBwok Ǎfan
A New Year's Day festival of hunting and dances among the Oegworok peopleFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇹🇭 Dan Sai, ThailandPhi Ta Khonผีตาโขน
A three-day festival in Dan Sai, north-east Thailand, of ghost masks and merit-makingFestival
🇪🇸 Madrid, Spain and 4 moreFeast of Saint Isidore the LaborerFiestas de San Isidro Labrador
A May festival honoring the patron saint of farmers, marked by processions and harvest gratitude in Spain and former colFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇺 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
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreEmber daysQuatuor Tempora
A quarterly Western Christian rhythm of fasting, prayer and seasonal thanksgivingSeasonal · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇭 PhilippinesBuklog
A thanksgiving ritual of the Subanen people in the Philippines, honoring spirits through offerings and dance.Spiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomHarvest Festival
An autumn thanksgiving for the crops, kept in churches and schools across the UKSeasonal · Supper
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaAgeraआगेरा
Mumbai's East Indian Catholics give thanks for the harvest on the first Sunday of OctoberFestival
🇩🇿 AlgeriaWezeeaوزيعة
A communal meat-sharing custom fostering rural solidarity across AlgeriaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис
A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇼 Rumphi, Malawi and 2 moreTumbuka dances and festivals
Dances for healing and celebration, and the yearly festivals that keep themPerformance
🇮🇳 Thiruvananthapuram, IndiaPongala
A harvest offering of sweet rice porridge prepared by millions of women in South IndiaFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇻🇳 VietnamSpace of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands of VietnamKhông gian văn hóa Cồng Chiêng Tây Nguyên
Gong sets of Vietnam's Central Highlands, played for festivals and spiritsPerformance
🇨🇳 Tianjin, China and 1 moreBa-zha八蜡
An old Chinese harvest rite of eight offerings, later a guardian against locustsSpiritual
🇨🇲 Bafoussam, CameroonNyang Nyang FestivalNyan-Nyang
A four-month Bamileke harvest festival and initiation rite in western CameroonFestival
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
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