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
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 7 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
🇮🇹 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
🇷🇸 Serbia and 1 moreVidovdanВидовдан
A Serbian church feast on 28 June, kept in memory of those who died at KosovoSpiritual
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 3 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
🇩🇪 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
🇺🇦 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
🇬🇧 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
🇩🇪 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
🇨🇴 Barranquilla, ColombiaBarranquilla CarnivalCarnaval de Barranquilla
A four-day street festival of music, masquerade and dance in coastal ColombiaFestival
🇲🇬 MadagascarFamadihana
A Malagasy reburial custom where families gather to rewrap and honour their ancestorsRite of passage
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreEgg rolling
A spring game of rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down hills or along lawnsGame
🇵🇱 Kraków, PolandKraków szopkaszopka krakowska
Elaborate Christmas cribs modelled on historic Polish architecture in KrakówCraft
🇭🇷 Sinj, CroatiaSinjska Alka
An annual jousting tournament in Sinj where galloping riders strike a hanging ringGame
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreMidnight MassMissa in nocte
The first service of Christmas, kept late on Christmas Eve in many Western churchesSpiritual
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas cracker
A decorative paper tube pulled apart with a bang during Christmas dinnerFestival · Dinner
🇦🇲 Armenia and 2 moreVardavarՎարդավառ
An Armenian midsummer festival where people playfully douse each other with waterFestival
🇭🇷 Dubrovnik, Croatia and 1 moreFestivity of Saint BlaiseFesta Svetog Vlaha
An annual patron saint festival in Dubrovnik with processions, relics and dovesFestival
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 moreRisalamande
A chilled Danish Christmas rice dessert with cream, chopped almonds and cherry sauceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 5 moreFastelavn
A pre-Lenten carnival in Northern Europe where children dress up, sing for treats, and break candy-filled barrels.Festival · 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
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 3 moreRosenmontag
The peak of German carnival, celebrated with satirical street parades and sweetsFestival
🇨🇿 Vlčnov, CzechiaRide of the KingsJízda králů
A Moravian spring procession where horsemen escort a silent boy king holding a roseFestival
🇨🇦 CanadaSaint-Jean-Baptiste DayFête nationale du Québec
An annual civic and cultural celebration observed across Quebec every June 24Ceremony
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 7 moreKoliadaКоляда
A traditional winter caroling and solstice festival kept across Slavic EuropeFestival
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreDidukhдідух
A wheat sheaf kept at Christmas to honour ancestors and pray for a bountiful harvestHome
🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaChichilakiჩიჩილაკი
A shaved hazelnut branch crafted as a Georgian Christmas tree and burned at EpiphanyFestival
🇨🇿 Czechia and 2 moreEaster whippingpomlázka
An Easter Monday custom of tapping women with braided willow switches for vitalitySeasonal
🇨🇴 Pasto, ColombiaBlacks and Whites' CarnivalCarnaval de Negros y Blancos
A week of street games, parades and music held every January in Pasto, ColombiaFestival
🇧🇴 Oruro, BoliviaCarnival of OruroEl carnaval de Oruro
A Bolivian festival of masked pilgrimage dances honoring the Virgin of the MineshaftFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreClean MondayΚαθαρά Δευτέρα
The Monday that opens Great Lent, kept with fasting, forgiveness and kite-flyingSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇭 Cebu City, Philippines and 4 moreSinulog Festival
An annual Philippine dance festival and Catholic devotion honouring the Santo NiñoFestival
🇪🇸 Pamplona, Spain and 5 moreProcessional giants
Towering costumed figures carried through town streets during communal festivalsFestival
🇵🇪 Cusco, PeruQoyllur Rit'iQuyllurit'i
An Andean mountain pilgrimage uniting indigenous star lore and Catholic devotionSpiritual
🇩🇪 Cologne, GermanyCologne CarnivalKölner Karneval
A street festival in Cologne with parades, masquerades and a ruling trioFestival
🇪🇸 Barcelona, SpainLa Mercè
Barcelona’s main annual city festival, honoring the Virgin of Mercy each September.Festival
🇲🇽 Mexico and 7 moreLas Posadas
A nine-night Christmas pageant remembering Mary and Joseph seeking shelterSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainHoly Week in SpainSemana Santa
Annual Catholic penitential processions across Spain featuring floats, robes and music to mark the Passion of Christ.Spiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Christmas in Ukraine: Halyna Kuchmanych, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Processional giants: Jesús Serna, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Slava: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pysanka: Lubap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Palio di Siena: Mirco, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Michaelmas: Julian P Guffogg, CC BY 2.0, source
- May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ferragosto: Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 2.5, 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
- Famadihana: Saveoursmile (Hery Zo Rakotondramanana), CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Whit Monday: Eloquence, Public domain, source
- Barranquilla Carnival: el heraldo, Public domain, source
- Sinjska Alka: L. Carević, CC0, source
- Christkind: Roland Berger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Festivity of Saint Blaise: August Dominus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kraków szopka: user:cancre, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Vardavar: Камалян001, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rosenmontag: Aymx, Public domain, source
- Meskel: DanielGirmaTsige, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fastelavn: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Koliada: Konstantin Trutovsky, Public domain, source
- Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day: Montrealais, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Carnival of Oruro: Pame82s, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Blacks and Whites' Carnival: camiloAndres, CC BY 2.0, source
- Easter whipping: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lohri: Karen Sandhu, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saint David's Day: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ride of the Kings: Filipzverina, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Risalamande: Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chichilaki: Mostafameraji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Didukh: Bo&Ko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Sinulog Festival: Herbert Kikoy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Thanksgiving: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Public domain, source
- Holy Week in Spain: Rodelar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Christmas cracker: en:User:Cgros841, Public domain, source
- Las Posadas: Yavidaxiu, CC BY 3.0, source
- La Mercè: larry&flo, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Cologne Carnival: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Qoyllur Rit'i: AgainErick, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vidovdan: Радосав Стојановић at Serbian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Yule goat: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
- Twelfth Night: Hablot Knight Browne: scanned by Steven J Plunkett, Public domain, source
- Clean Monday: Перов, Public domain, source
- Midnight Mass: Atleett, CC0, source