Christian traditions
Christian traditions span the globe, from Ethiopian Orthodox fasts and Filipino Simbang Gabi to Swedish Lucia, Mexican posadas, Easter in Greece and the harvest services of Britain.
Christian traditions span the globe, from Ethiopian Orthodox fasts and Filipino Simbang Gabi to Swedish Lucia, Mexican posadas, Easter in Greece and the harvest services of Britain. They centre on Christmas, Lent, Holy Week and Easter, Pentecost, saints' days and the sacraments of baptism, communion, marriage and burial. Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Pentecostal churches each have their customs, and local cultures have shaped them in distinct ways. Here they are described with respect for the believers who keep them, and for the variety of ways of keeping them.
The church year
The year begins with Advent and builds to Christmas, then Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week and Easter, followed by Pentecost and the long season of ordinary time. Saints' days mark local patrons, and many towns have a patronal feast with a procession and fair. Orthodox churches keep their own calendar, so Christmas falls on 7 January in several countries. Fasting seasons shape food, and feasts follow.
Around the world
Christians in different countries have made the faith their own: the dawn masses of the Philippines, the carols of Wales, the gospel choirs of the American South, the white-clad pilgrims of Lalibela, the Corpus Christi carpets of flowers in Spain, and the Nativity scenes of Naples. These customs combine faith with local food, music and craft, and are among the most visible traditions of the world.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Christian (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, DenmarkFaroese chain danceFøroyskur dansur
A living medieval chain dance guided by sung ballads in the Faroe IslandsPerformance
🇵🇹 Lisbon, PortugalMarchas Populares
Neighbourhood teams march, dance and sing through Lisbon's June nights for St AnthonyFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineBanduraБандура
A Ukrainian plucked string instrument played to accompany epic songs and folk balladsPerformance
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas carol
Festive songs and hymns sung during the Christmas season and door to doorPerformance
🇪🇸 Pamplona, Spain and 5 moreProcessional giants
Towering costumed figures carried through town streets during communal festivalsFestival
🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain and 2 moreDiada de Sant Jordi
A Catalan feast day of literature and love, marked by giving books and red rosesFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreMummers' play
A comic folk drama of staged combat, death, and revival by an eccentric doctorPerformance
🇪🇸 Valencia, SpainCremà
The ceremonial burning of large artistic street monuments across the Valencian communityFestival
🇺🇦 UkraineTraditional Ukrainian wedding
A wedding spread over many days, with matchmaking, bread, wreaths and songRite of passage
🇬🇧 Llangollen, United Kingdom and 5 moreEisteddfod
A Welsh festival of poetry and music competitions, featuring the chairing and crowning of winning bards.Festival
🇧🇾 BelarusBatlejkaБатле́йка
A two-level puppet booth from Belarus, playing Nativity and folk scenes at ChristmasPerformance
🇪🇸 Seville, Spain and 5 moreAzulejo
Painted, tin-glazed ceramic tiles that cover walls and floors across Portugal and SpainCraft
🇬🇷 Patras, GreecePatras CarnivalPatrino karnavali
A winter carnival of parades, street games and satirical floats in western GreeceFestival
🇧🇪 Aalst, BelgiumAalst CarnivalAalst Carnaval
A three-day street carnival of satire, costumed parades and folk rituals in AalstFestival
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainSeville FairFeria de Abril de Sevilla
A week-long spring festival in Seville of carriage parades, marquee tents and dancingFestival · Dinner
🇷🇴 Romania and 1 moreColindă
A Romanian and Moldovan Christmas carol tradition where village groups sing Nativity songs door to door.Festival
🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineVertepвертеп
A two-tiered Ukrainian puppet theatre that mixes the nativity story with satirical comedy and folk music.Performance
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreCarol service
A Christmas church service of seasonal hymns, scripture readings and candlelightSpiritual
🇦🇹 Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria and 2 moreSilent NightStille Nacht, heilige Nacht
A Christmas carol composed in Austria in 1818, now sung worldwide as a symbol of peace.Performance
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreMoors and ChristiansMoros y Cristianos
Theatrical parades and mock battles staging historic clashes across Spain and beyondFestival
🇫🇷 Nice, FranceNice CarnivalCarnaval de Nice
A two-week winter festival of papier-mâché floats and flower battles in Nice, FranceFestival
🇱🇺 Echternach, LuxembourgDancing procession of EchternachIechternacher Sprangprëssioun
A Roman Catholic hopping pilgrimage honouring Saint Willibrord in eastern LuxembourgSpiritual
🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaMaltese Carnivalil-Karnival ta' Malta
A lively week of costumed parades, dancing, satirical floats and sweets across Malta.Festival · Sweets given and shared
🇪🇸 Valencia, SpainFallasFalles de València
Valencia's five-day March fiesta of giant paper figures and bonfiresFestival
🇪🇸 Alicante, SpainBonfires of Saint John in AlicanteFogueres de Sant Joan
A midsummer festival of towering satirical monuments, music and fire in AlicanteFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreAnastenariaΑναστενάρια
A barefoot firewalking and dance rite honouring Saint Constantine and Saint HelenSpiritual
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKoledariколядники
A Slavic winter caroling custom of visiting homes with songs, masks and blessingsFestival
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 10 moreEgg decorating
Decorating eggs with dye, wax and carving, kept at Easter, Nowruz and springCraft
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreLazariceлазарице
A spring procession of girls in flower wreaths, singing door to door before Palm SundaySpiritual
🇬🇷 GreeceKalanta ChristougenonΚάλαντα Χριστουγέννων
A Greek Christmas carol, sung around the feast with triangle and guitarPerformance
🇸🇰 SlovakiaJasličkári
A Slovak Christmas custom of young men acting out the Nativity from house to houseFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreScottish folk music
Traditional ballads, fiddle tunes and bagpipe melodies from Scotland and its diasporaPerformance
🇷🇺 RussiaRussian folk music
The village songs, choirs and instruments of Russia's ethnic Russian peoplePerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bandura: Julianhayda, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Patras Carnival: www.infocenterpatras.gr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Diada de Sant Jordi: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cremà: Paula Ramírez Morant, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aalst Carnival: Wikisid, CC BY 3.0, source
- Seville Fair: Sevilla Congress & Convention Bureau, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Colindă: Post of Moldova, Public domain, source
- Vertep: Микола Василечко, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Christmas carol: Prathyush Thomas, GFDL 1.2, source
- Faroese chain dance: Eileen Sandá, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marchas Populares: Taisir85, CC BY 4.0, source
- Russian folk music: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Silent Night: Franz Xaver Gruber (1787–1863), Public domain, source
- Traditional Ukrainian wedding: Пимоненко, Николай Корнильевич, Public domain, source
- Eisteddfod: Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Batlejka: user:Хомелка, CC BY 3.0, source
- Egg decorating: L.Kenzel, CC BY 3.0, source
- Anastenaria: Artkostov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Koledari: Mikhail Germashev, Public domain, source
- Whit Tuesday: David Edgar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Processional giants: Jesús Serna, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Scottish folk music: Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lazarice: Svetlina bov at Bulgarian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Mummers' play: Aladjov, CC BY 3.0, source
- Moors and Christians: No machine-readable author provided. Jarke assumed (based on copyright, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nice Carnival: Honeydew, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maltese Carnival: Ronny Siegel, CC BY 3.0, source
- Fallas: Goodnighmoon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bonfires of Saint John in Alicante: Fernando Pastor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Azulejo: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, source