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.

About this page

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.

🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 4 moreChristmas A festival of Jesus's birth, kept on 25 December with gifts, lights and shared mealsFestival

🇪🇸 Valencia, Spain and 5 moreFeast of Corpus ChristiCorpus Domini A Christian feast celebrating the presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the EucharistSpiritual

🇫🇷 France and 5 moreCandlemas A Christian feast of candle blessings marking the end of the Christmas seasonSpiritual 🇱🇹 LithuaniaVėlinės A Lithuanian remembrance day honouring deceased souls with cemetery prayers and candlesSpiritual

🇪🇪 EstoniaJaanipäev Estonia's midsummer night of bonfires, song and fortune-telling, on 23 and 24 JuneFestival

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreMaslenitsaМасленица A seven-day Eastern Slavic festival of pancakes and bonfires marking the end of winter before Lent.Festival · Breakfast

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreImbolcLá Fhéile Bríde A Gaelic festival heralding spring and honoring Saint Brigid with woven rush crossesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve Bonfires, feasting and worship on the short night before John the Baptist's feastSpiritual

🇩🇪 Germany and 12 moreSt. Martin's DayMartinstag A November feast of lantern walks, bonfires, roast goose and new wineSpiritual

🇩🇪 Hamburg, Germany and 2 moreAdvent wreathAdventskranz An evergreen ring of candles lit week by week in the lead-up to ChristmasSeasonal

🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreFat Thursday A Thursday before Lent when doughnuts, grilled meat and Carnival take overFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇧🇪 Belgium and 5 moreSaint Nicholas Day The feast day of Saint Nicholas, kept in Advent with gifts, shoes and church servicesSpiritual

🇮🇪 Ireland and 6 moreSaint Stephen's Day A Christian feast day celebrating the first martyr with feasts, rides and folk customs.Spiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyFerragosto A public holiday on 15 August marking the Assumption of Mary and the traditional start of the Italian summer break.Festival · Lunch

🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 4 moreMay Day A traditional European festival welcoming summer with greenery, dances and bonfiresSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇸🇪 Gävle, SwedenGävle goatGävlebocken A towering straw Yule goat built each Advent in the central square of GävleFestival

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWhit Monday The Christian feast and public holiday held on the day after PentecostSpiritual

🇭🇺 Mohács, HungaryBusójárás A six-day winter carnival of carved wooden masks, folk music, and parades in MohácsFestival

🇬🇧 Cardiff, United Kingdom and 1 moreSaint David's DayDydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant The national feast day of Wales, marked with parades, poetry contests and daffodilsFestival

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreYule log A log kept burning on the hearth through the twelve days of Christmas, for luckSeasonal

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreEgg rolling A spring game of rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down hills or along lawnsGame

🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreMidnight MassMissa in nocte The first service of Christmas, kept late on Christmas Eve in many Western churchesSpiritual

🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 3 moreRosenmontag The peak of German carnival, celebrated with satirical street parades and sweetsFestival

🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 moreRisalamande A chilled Danish Christmas rice dessert with cream, chopped almonds and cherry sauceTable custom · Sweets given and shared

🇺🇦 Ukraine and 12 moreKoliadaКоляда A traditional winter caroling and solstice festival kept across Slavic EuropeFestival

🇨🇿 Vlčnov, CzechiaRide of the KingsJízda králů A Moravian spring procession where horsemen escort a silent boy king holding a roseFestival

🇨🇿 Czechia and 2 moreEaster whippingpomlázka An Easter Monday custom of tapping women with braided willow switches for vitalitySeasonal

🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreDidukhдідух A wheat sheaf kept at Christmas to honour ancestors and pray for a bountiful harvestHome

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreClean MondayΚαθαρά Δευτέρα The Monday that opens Great Lent, kept with fasting, forgiveness and kite-flyingSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇩🇪 Cologne, GermanyCologne CarnivalKölner Karneval A street festival in Cologne with parades, masquerades and a ruling trioFestival

🇪🇸 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

🇸🇪 SwedenJul A midwinter holiday of feast tables, doorstep gift givers, and candlelit morningsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreRéveillon A luxurious late-night feast that stretches until dawn across the winter holidaysTable custom · Dinner

🇪🇸 Valencia, SpainCremà The ceremonial burning of large artistic street monuments across the Valencian communityFestival

🇸🇮 Ptuj, Slovenia and 1 moreKurentovanje A rite of spring and carnival in Ptuj with masked bell-ringers chasing winter awayFestival

🇱🇹 LithuaniaSaint Jonas's FestivalJoninės A Lithuanian midsummer night of bonfires, wreaths, song and morning dewSeasonal

🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Sunday An English church blessing of the land and farm tools at the start of the yearSpiritual

🇱🇹 LithuaniaUžgavėnės A Lithuanian winter-ending festival of masks, mock battles and pancakesFestival

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEasterΠάσχα The day Christians mark the resurrection, kept with vigils, feasts and eggsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇱🇺 Luxembourg and 3 moreBuergbrennen A bonfire festival marking the end of winter on the first Sunday of Lent in LuxembourgSeasonal

🇬🇷 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

🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 2 moreAssumption of Mary A feast on 15 August, when Christians remember Mary taken up into heavenSpiritual

🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 3 moreMalankaМаланка A Ukrainian folk celebration of masked mummers, feasting and New Year blessingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreSwabian-Alemannic FastnachtFastnacht A late-winter carnival of masks and jesters kept before Lent in the Alemannic landsFestival

🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Monday England's old start of the farming year, kept with ploughs, straw bears and sword dancesSeasonal

Photo credits on this page

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

Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
Christmas: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Public domain, source
Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
St John's Eve: Jules Breton, Public domain, source
May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
Gävle goat: Sinikka Halme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Busójárás: User:Themightyquill, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Egg rolling: White House/Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, source
Maslenitsa: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Rosenmontag: Aymx, Public domain, source
Plough Sunday: John Cowie, CC BY 3.0, source
Jul: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Easter whipping: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Saint David's Day: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, source
Risalamande: Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Diada de Sant Jordi: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Cremà: Paula Ramírez Morant, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Buergbrennen: luxpim, CC BY 2.0, source
Malanka: Viktoriyasechkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Užgavėnės: Algirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia, GFDL, source
Saint Jonas's Festival: Unknown author, CC0, source
Jaanipäev: Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Kurentovanje: Aleš Kravos, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Fat Thursday: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Saint Nicholas Day: Chmee2, CC BY 3.0, source
Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
Plough Monday: Rawpixel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
Assumption of Mary: Jebulon, CC0, source
Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
Ride of the Kings: Filipzverina, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Cologne Carnival: Unknown author, Public domain, source
St. Martin's Day: Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public domain, source
Koliada: Konstantin Trutovsky, Public domain, source
Feast of Corpus Christi: Fennec ., Public domain, source
Saint Stephen's Day: Carlo Crivelli, Public domain, source
Clean Monday: Перов, Public domain, source
Whit Monday: Eloquence, Public domain, source
Candlemas: Andrea Mantegna, Public domain, source
Mummers' play: Aladjov, CC BY 3.0, source
Ferragosto: Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Didukh: Bo&Ko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Advent wreath: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY 4.0, source
Midnight Mass: Atleett, CC0, source