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.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
🇹🇻 TuvaluMusic of Tuvalu
Rhythmic storytelling dances and choral singing from the Polynesian atolls of TuvaluPerformance
🇪🇪 EstoniaJaanipäev
An Estonian midsummer festival marking the shortest night with bonfires, songs and independence memories.Festival
🇹🇱 Dili, Timor-Leste and 1 moreTais
Traditional hand-woven cloth of East Timor, worn as dress or used in ceremonies and exchange.Dress
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreTamalada
A gathering where tamales are the main dish or a communal tamale-making party in Mexican and Hispanic cultures.Festival · Lunch
🇲🇽 Huamantla, Mexico and 4 moreSawdust carpettapete de aserrín
Colored sawdust designs laid on streets to greet religious processions in Latin America and beyond.Festival
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreMaslenitsaМасленица
A seven-day Eastern Slavic festival of pancakes and bonfires marking the end of winter before Lent.Festival · Breakfast
🇲🇽 Mexico City, Mexico and 2 moreOur Lady of GuadalupeNuestra Señora de Guadalupe
A Mexican devotion to Mary, with a feast on 12 December and an image kept on a cloakSpiritual
🇩🇪 Nuremberg, Germany and 5 moreChristmas marketWeihnachtsmarkt
A seasonal street market held during Advent in German-speaking regions and beyond, featuring stalls, food, and crafts.Festival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇺🇸 New Orleans, United States and 5 moreMardi Gras
A festive day of parades and rich foods marking the final celebration before the Christian fasting season of Lent beginsFestival
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 morePresentation of Jesus at the TempleIn praesentatione Domini
A February feast of candles and welcome, kept forty days after ChristmasSpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreBoxing Day
A public holiday on 26 December in Commonwealth nations, marked by charity, family time, and shopping sales.Festival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreAdvent calendarAdventskalender
A daily countdown to Christmas using doors, images, or small gifts.Festival
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve
Bonfires, feasting and worship on the short night before John the Baptist's feastSpiritual
🇲🇽 Guadalajara, Mexico and 1 moreMariachi
A Mexican string and trumpet music tradition featuring charro attire and communal singing.Performance
🇩🇪 Germany and 12 moreSt. Martin's DayMartinstag
A November feast of lantern walks, bonfires, roast goose and new wineSpiritual
🇪🇸 Pamplona, SpainFestival of San FermínSanfermines
An annual nine-day festival in Pamplona featuring bull runs, parades, and street music.Festival
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 4 moreSaint Lucy's Day
A December festival of light and song held across Scandinavia and Italy to honour a Christian martyr.Festival · Breakfast
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreFat Thursday
A Thursday before Lent when doughnuts, grilled meat and Carnival take overFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreKupala Night
A summer solstice folk festival marked by bonfires, water rituals and herbal gatherings across Eastern Europe.Festival
🇧🇪 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
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 14 morePysankaписанка
A wax-resist egg decorating tradition kept by Slavic communities for Easter and spring renewal.Festival
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyFerragosto
A public holiday on 15 August marking the Assumption of Mary and the traditional start of the Italian summer break.Festival · Lunch
🇷🇸 Serbia and 1 moreVidovdanВидовдан
A Serbian church feast on 28 June, kept in memory of those who died at KosovoSpiritual
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyPalio di SienaIl Palio
A bareback horse race held twice a year in Siena's Piazza del Campo, representing the city's historic wards.Festival
🇷🇸 SerbiaSlavaСлава
An annual Serbian family feast honouring their patron saint with blessed bread and wineSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 4 moreMay Day
A traditional European festival welcoming summer with greenery, dances and bonfiresSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreMichaelmas
A Christian festival honouring the archangels, marked by autumn harvest foods and legal terms in the British Isles.Festival · Dinner
🇸🇪 Gävle, SwedenGävle goatGävlebocken
A towering straw Yule goat built each Advent in the central square of GävleFestival
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreLohri
A northern Indian midwinter festival of evening bonfires, folk songs and harvest foodsSeasonal
🇭🇺 Mohács, HungaryBusójárás
A six-day winter carnival of carved wooden masks, folk music, and parades in MohácsFestival
🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineChristmas in UkraineРіздво (Rizdvo)
A Ukrainian Christmas celebration with a twelve-dish vegan supper on Christmas Eve and observance on January 6 or DecembFestival · Supper
🇸🇪 Gävle, Sweden and 1 moreYule goatJulbocken
A straw goat of northern Christmas, once a harvest spirit, now a tree ornamentFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWhit Monday
The Christian feast and public holiday held on the day after PentecostSpiritual
🇬🇧 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
🇩🇪 Nuremberg, Germany and 5 moreChristkind
The traditional Christmas Eve gift-bringer across Central Europe and Latin AmericaFestival
🇳🇿 Waitangi, New Zealand and 2 moreWaitangi DayTe Rā o Waitangi
New Zealand's national day remembering the 1840 founding agreement.Ceremony · Breakfast
🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesThanksgiving
An annual American holiday of gratitude, family gatherings and an autumn harvest feastFestival · Dinner
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreTwelfth Night
The closing evening of the Christmas season, kept with cake, carols and wassailSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreEgg rolling
A spring game of rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down hills or along lawnsGame
🇭🇷 Sinj, CroatiaSinjska Alka
An annual jousting tournament in Sinj where galloping riders strike a hanging ringGame
🇨🇴 Barranquilla, ColombiaBarranquilla CarnivalCarnaval de Barranquilla
A four-day street festival of music, masquerade and dance in coastal ColombiaFestival
🇵🇱 Kraków, PolandKraków szopkaszopka krakowska
Elaborate Christmas cribs modelled on historic Polish architecture in KrakówCraft
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas cracker
A decorative paper tube pulled apart with a bang during Christmas dinnerFestival · Dinner
🇭🇷 Dubrovnik, Croatia and 1 moreFestivity of Saint BlaiseFesta Svetog Vlaha
An annual patron saint festival in Dubrovnik with processions, relics and dovesFestival
🇦🇲 Armenia and 2 moreVardavarՎարդավառ
An Armenian midsummer festival where people playfully douse each other with waterFestival
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 moreRisalamande
A chilled Danish Christmas rice dessert with cream, chopped almonds and cherry sauceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇪🇹 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and 1 moreMeskelመስቀል (Mesk'el)
A celebration in Ethiopia and Eritrea marking the discovery of the True Cross with a large bonfire.Spiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Barranquilla Carnival: el heraldo, Public domain, source
- Christmas in Ukraine: Halyna Kuchmanych, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Boxing Day: Sigismund von Dobschütz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Lucy's Day: Fredrik Magnusson, CC BY 2.0, source
- St John's Eve: Jules Breton, Public domain, source
- Slava: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Festival of San Fermín: SanchoPanzaXXI, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mariachi: Elidealista, CC0, source
- Kupala Night: Ivan Sokolov, Public domain, source
- Advent calendar: Andrea Schaufler, CC BY 2.5, source
- Palio di Siena: Mirco, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Michaelmas: Julian P Guffogg, CC BY 2.0, source
- Via Dolorosa: Gaudenzio Ferrari, 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
- Waitangi Day: Ryan762 ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Egg rolling: White House/Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, source
- Maslenitsa: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kraków szopka: user:cancre, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Vardavar: Камалян001, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Meskel: DanielGirmaTsige, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lohri: Karen Sandhu, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saint David's Day: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, source
- Risalamande: Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Thanksgiving: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Public domain, source
- Christmas cracker: en:User:Cgros841, Public domain, source
- Fat Thursday: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Saint Nicholas Day: Chmee2, CC BY 3.0, source
- Yule goat: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Music of Tuvalu: Avenue, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Twelfth Night: Hablot Knight Browne: scanned by Steven J Plunkett, Public domain, source
- Tais: Daderot, CC0, source
- Sawdust carpet: Rosalba Muñoz RomeroLia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Our Lady of Guadalupe: Sebastian Wallroth, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sinjska Alka: L. Carević, CC0, source
- Pysanka: Lubap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tamalada: Tania Solá (WMMX), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Festivity of Saint Blaise: August Dominus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- St. Martin's Day: Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public domain, source
- Mardi Gras: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vidovdan: Радосав Стојановић at Serbian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Saint Stephen's Day: Carlo Crivelli, Public domain, source
- Whit Monday: Eloquence, Public domain, source
- Ferragosto: Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Christmas market: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Christkind: Roland Berger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source