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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
🇫🇷 Bayonne, FranceFêtes de BayonneBaionako Jaiak A five-day summer feria in Bayonne featuring parades, dances and white-and-red dressFestival 🇹🇹 Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago Carnival An annual festival of street parades, masquerade bands, steelpan music and danceFestival 🇮🇸 IcelandÞorrablót An Icelandic midwinter feast of dinner, speeches and poetryFestival · Dinner 🇬🇾 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 🇦🇫 Mazar-i-Sharif, AfghanistanNowruzنوروز The Afghan spring new year, celebrated with picnics, wheat pudding and dried fruit.Seasonal · Feasts and festival meals 🇧🇪 Brussels, BelgiumMeyboomMaâbuum An annual Brussels parade and ceremonial tree planting held every AugustFestival 🇮🇪 Galway, IrelandGalway International Oyster Festival An annual autumn gathering in Galway honouring native oysters with shucking contestsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals 🇰🇪 Nairobi, KenyaMadaraka Day Kenya's annual public holiday marking the start of self-governance on 1 June 1963Ceremony 🇨🇱 Santiago, ChileFiestas Patrias Chile's homeland festivities celebrating national identity with music, dance, and foodCeremony 🇱🇹 Vilnius, LithuaniaLithuanian Song FestivalLietuvių dainų ir šokių šventė A periodic national festival of choral singing, dance and folklore in LithuaniaFestival 🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreGlögg A spiced, warm winter wine served across Nordic countries around ChristmasTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇪🇸 Jijona, Spain and 5 moreTurrón A festive Mediterranean nut-and-honey confection shared at Christmas and local feastsTable custom · Sweets given and shared 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreKorean New Year설날 A three-day Korean festival celebrating the lunisolar new year with family and feastsSeasonal 🇩🇴 Santiago, Dominican Republic and 3 moreMerengue A fast-paced folk dance and music tradition born in the Dominican RepublicPerformance 🇺🇸 New York City, United StatesWest Indian Day Parade A lively Caribbean street procession held every September in Brooklyn, New YorkFestival 🇳🇱 NetherlandsBloemencorso Bollenstreek An annual mid-April parade of flower-covered floats across the Dutch bulb regionFestival 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreSweet sixteen A North American coming-of-age celebration marking a sixteenth birthdayRite of passage 🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaMaltese Carnivalil-Karnival ta' Malta A lively week of costumed parades, dancing, satirical floats and sweets across Malta.Festival · Sweets given and shared 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreChuseok추석 A Korean harvest festival of ancestral rites, seasonal rice cakes, and folk gamesFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇭🇹 Port-au-Prince, HaitiIndependence Day A national celebration of liberation, freedom, and unity observed every New Year's Day.Ceremony 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreColumbus Day An annual autumn holiday marking the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus in the AmericasCeremony 🇳🇱 Noordwijk, Netherlands and 1 moreBloemencorso Annual parades of flower-covered floats and boats in the Netherlands and BelgiumFestival 🇧🇿 Dangriga, BelizeGarifuna Settlement Day An annual Belizean holiday marking the arrival and heritage of the Garifuna peopleFestival 🇺🇸 Tahlequah, United StatesCherokee National Holiday An annual gathering in Oklahoma marking the signing of the Cherokee ConstitutionFestival 🇱🇺 Luxembourg City, LuxembourgSchueberfouer An annual late-summer funfair and historic fair held in Luxembourg CityFestival 🇲🇦 MoroccoThrone Dayعيد العرش Morocco's annual national holiday marking the enthronement of the reigning kingCeremony 🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreTió de Nadal A Catalan Christmas tradition where a decorated log is fed and beaten to produce small gifts for children.Festival 🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreImmortal RegimentБессмертный полк (Bessmertnyy polk) A civic procession where people carry portraits of relatives who served in the Second World War.Festival 🇲🇽 Oaxaca, MexicoNight of the RadishesNoche de Rábanos An annual festival of intricate sculptures carved from oversized radishes in OaxacaCraft 🇵🇭 Bacolod, PhilippinesMassKara FestivalPista sang MassKara A street festival of smiling masks, parades and music in Bacolod, PhilippinesFestival 🇺🇸 Pasadena, United StatesRose Parade A New Year's Day floral parade of natural floats, bands and horses in CaliforniaFestival 🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreWren DayLá an Dreoilín A Saint Stephen's Day custom where groups parade a stuffed wren on a decorated pole through their community.Festival 🇲🇽 Mexico City, MexicoMexican Revolution DayDía de la Revolución Mexicana A Mexican civic holiday marking the 1910 uprising with parades and public ceremoniesCeremony 🇧🇪 Mons, BelgiumDucasse de Mons An eight-day festival in Mons featuring a golden carriage and a dragon combatFestival 🇲🇽 Acolman, Mexico and 1 morePiñata A festive decorated container broken open with a stick to scatter treats and fruitFestival 🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesUnited States presidential inauguration The formal swearing-in ceremony and celebrations for a new United States presidentCeremony 🇺🇸 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 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreBachelor party A send-off for a groom-to-be, kept in the days and weeks before a weddingRite of passage 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreBonfire Night Yearly nights of bonfires and fireworks, kept in Britain, Ireland and beyondFestival 🇨🇳 Yining, China and 1 moreMeshrepمەشرەپ A Uyghur gathering of music, poetry, dance and moral counsel at harvest and weddingsPerformance 🇨🇷 San Antonio de Escazú, Costa RicaCosta Rican oxcartscarretas Oxen-drawn carts, hand-painted in bright patterns, kept as a national symbol of Costa RicaCraft 🇪🇸 Madrid, Spain and 5 moreTwelve GrapesLas doce uvas de la suerte A grape for every chime at midnight on 31 December, welcoming the new yearFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDoljanchi돌 (dol); 돌잔치 (doljanchi) A Korean first-birthday rite where a baby picks an object that hints at the years aheadRite of passage 🇷🇺 RussiaRussian wedding traditions A Russian wedding runs two days to a week, with ransom games, crowns and toastsRite of passage
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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.