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EveryParampara

Secular and civic traditions

Secular and civic traditions are those kept without a religious frame: national days, parades, remembrance days, birthdays, graduations, school and university rituals, sporting customs, workplace habits and the rites of clubs and communities.

Secular and civic traditions are those kept without a religious frame: national days, parades, remembrance days, birthdays, graduations, school and university rituals, sporting customs, workplace habits and the rites of clubs and communities. They give people shared moments and symbols outside any faith, and many have grown over a century or two. EveryParampara includes them alongside older traditions, because a Fourth of July barbecue or a Burns Night supper is as much a tradition as any ancient rite, and is kept with equal feeling.

Nations and communities

National days, flags, anthems, parades and minutes of silence create a sense of belonging. Remembrance of war dead, in poppies, wreaths and the Last Post, is observed by millions. Local clubs, guilds and societies keep their own rituals, from the mayor's procession to the Rotary meeting. Each reflects the history and the values of the group, and many invite the public to attend.

Milestones without a church

Birthdays, graduations, retirements, housewarmings and baby showers are secular milestones, kept with cakes, speeches and gifts. Many couples hold civil weddings and non-religious naming ceremonies and funerals led by celebrants. These customs show how people create meaning and mark time together, and how traditions are made as well as inherited. Some of them are only a few decades old, and already feel like old friends. A tradition begins the first time a group of people decides to do something again next year.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Secular and civic (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
KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 3 moreHosay An Indo-Caribbean Muharram commemoration with ornate floats, drumming and processionsSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇫🇮 Helsinki, FinlandKalevala DayKalevalan päivä A Finnish national flag day celebrating the country's epic poetry and living artsCeremony 🇨🇺 Santiago de Cuba, CubaCarnival of Santiago de CubaCarnaval A summer street celebration of percussion troupes, dancing, and parades in eastern CubaFestival 🇰🇵 Pyongyang, North Korea and 4 moreMass games Disciplined, large-scale gymnastic spectacles celebrating unity and national prideCeremony 🇷🇸 Guča, SerbiaGuča Trumpet FestivalФестивал трубача у Гучи A weekend brass band competition and folk festival in western SerbiaFestival 🇲🇽 Mazatlán, MexicoCarnival of MazatlánCarnaval de Mazatlán An annual five-day festival of parades, fireworks, poetry and dance in coastal MexicoFestival 🇺🇾 Montevideo, Uruguay and 3 moreMurga A lively Carnival musical theatre of chorus, percussion and social satirePerformance 🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreLatvian Song and Dance FestivalVispārējie latviešu Dziesmu un Deju svētki A grand gathering of choirs, dancers and folk artists held every five years in LatviaPerformance 🇨🇦 Montreal, CanadaMontreal International Jazz FestivalFestival international de Jazz de Montréal A ten-day summer jazz festival filling downtown Montreal with free and ticketed concertsPerformance 🇧🇪 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 🇹🇹 Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago Carnival An annual festival of street parades, masquerade bands, steelpan music and danceFestival 🇬🇾 Georgetown, GuyanaMashramani Guyana's national republic celebration filled with street pageantry, music and dance.Festival 🇬🇷 Patras, GreecePatras CarnivalPatrino karnavali A winter carnival of parades, street games and satirical floats in western GreeceFestival 🇱🇹 Vilnius, LithuaniaLithuanian Song FestivalLietuvių dainų ir šokių šventė A periodic national festival of choral singing, dance and folklore in LithuaniaFestival 🇩🇴 Santiago, Dominican Republic and 3 moreMerengue A fast-paced folk dance and music tradition born in the Dominican RepublicPerformance 🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaMaltese Carnivalil-Karnival ta' Malta A lively week of costumed parades, dancing, satirical floats and sweets across Malta.Festival · Sweets given and shared 🇵🇭 Bacolod, PhilippinesMassKara FestivalPista sang MassKara A street festival of smiling masks, parades and music in Bacolod, PhilippinesFestival 🇪🇸 Alicante, SpainBonfires of Saint John in AlicanteFogueres de Sant Joan A midsummer festival of towering satirical monuments, music and fire in AlicanteFestival 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, United StatesMummers Parade An annual New Year's Day street parade in Philadelphia featuring music and costumed clubsFestival 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreChapchar KutChapchâr Kût A spring festival of dance and food kept by the Mizo people in Mizoram, India.Festival 🇬🇧 Abbots Bromley, United KingdomAbbots Bromley Horn Dance A September folk dance in an English village featuring dancers with reindeer antlers and a hobby horse.Performance 🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 6 moreBoishakhi Melaবৈশাখী মেলা A Bengali New Year fair in London each May, with a parade, music and food stallsFestival 🇦🇹 Vienna, AustriaVienna New Year's ConcertNeujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker A morning of waltzes and polkas on 1 January, played by the Vienna PhilharmonicPerformance 🇨🇳 Yining, China and 1 moreMeshrepمەشرەپ A Uyghur gathering of music, poetry, dance and moral counsel at harvest and weddingsPerformance 🇦🇹 Vienna, AustriaViennese coffee house cultureWiener Kaffeehauskultur A Viennese social ritual where patrons linger for hours with a single coffee and newspapers.Etiquette · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇨🇺 Santiago de Cuba, CubaTumba francesa An Afro-Cuban art of dance, song and drumming kept by societies in eastern CubaPerformance 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreLast Post A bugle call sounded at military funerals and remembrance services across the Commonwealth to honour those who died in sPerformance 🇳🇱 Landgraaf, NetherlandsPinkpop A three-day pop and rock festival in the Netherlands, held on the Pentecost weekendFestival 🇮🇶 Kufa, Iraq and 5 moreArabic calligraphykhatt (خَطّ) Artistic handwriting of the Arabic script, practiced as a sacred craft and a living visual tradition.Craft 🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreYuri's Night An annual global celebration on April 12 marking milestones in space explorationFestival 🇪🇪 Tartu, Estonia and 5 moreEuropeade An annual gathering of folk dancers, musicians and singers across EuropeFestival 🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreDelphic Games of the modern era Global competitions and exhibitions across the arts, modelled on ancient Greek gamesPerformance 🇮🇳 Santiniketan, India and 1 moreRabindra Jayanti An annual Bengali festival celebrating Rabindranath Tagore with music, drama and verseFestival 🇧🇼 Gaborone, BotswanaBantu Film Festival An annual pan-African film festival held in Botswana celebrating continental cinemaFestival 🇨🇳 Xi'an, ChinaXi'an guyue西安鼓乐 Ritual wind and percussion music from Xi'an, played sitting or walkingPerformance 🇬🇧 East Kilbride, United KingdomKate Dalrymple A traditional Scottish reel and comic Scots song about a muirland spinsterPerformance 🇨🇦 Edmonton, CanadaGrand North American Old Time Fiddle Championship An annual summer fiddle tournament and community gathering in Alberta, CanadaPerformance 🇲🇰 Bitola, North MacedoniaManaki Brothers Film Festival An annual international festival in Bitola honouring the craft of cinematographyFestival 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreScottish folk music Traditional ballads, fiddle tunes and bagpipe melodies from Scotland and its diasporaPerformance 🇮🇸 Reykjavík, IcelandIceland Noir An annual November literature and storytelling festival held in central ReykjavíkPerformance 🇫🇷 France and 2 moreReynard the FoxRoman de Renart A medieval European beast fable cycle starring a cunning trickster foxFolklore 🇿🇼 Harare, ZimbabweHarare International Festival of the Arts An annual week-long celebration of music, dance, theatre and art in Harare, ZimbabwePerformance 🇷🇸 Belgrade, Serbia and 2 moreMerlinka Festival An annual queer film festival held across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and MontenegroFestival 🇱🇺 LuxembourgCinEast An October film festival in Luxembourg showing new cinema from Central and Eastern EuropeFestival 🇹🇳 Sousse, TunisiaCarnival of Awussu An annual seaside midsummer parade in Sousse with floats, brass bands and folk troupesFestival 🇧🇫 Dédougou, Burkina Faso and 5 moreFESTIMAFestival International des Masques et des Arts A biennial West African festival in Burkina Faso celebrating traditional mask dancesFestival 🇲🇬 Antananarivo, MadagascarRencontres du Film Court MadagasikaraRencontres du Film Court Madagascar Madagascar's annual short film festival, held in Antananarivo with free screeningsFestival
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Photo credits on this page

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

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.