Feasts and festival meals
The meal that marks a day, a rite or a season, and how it is kept.
A feast is the meal that makes a day: the Passover seder, the Georgian supra, the Thanksgiving table, the iftar that ends a Ramadan day, a wedding banquet. These pages are about the customs of the feast, such as who is invited, what is said and done, and how it is closed, and not about the recipes. For those, see Thali.
A meal with a script
Feasts usually have an order: a blessing, a toast, a symbolic first food, a story that is retold. Those who attend know when to speak, when to stand and what is expected of a guest.
Marking time
Feasts mark the year (harvest, new year, midwinter) and a life (birth, marriage, death). The same table can hold both: a village feast that celebrates the harvest and also settles who is married to whom.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Feasts and festival meals (meal). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇪🇹 EthiopiaFichee-Chambalaalla
A moveable new year festival of the Sidama people in Ethiopia.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇹 EthiopiaGifaataaጊፋታ
The annual New Year celebration of the Wolayta people in southern EthiopiaSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇿 Tlemcen, AlgeriaAshura in Algeriaيوم عاشوراء
A day of fasting, almsgiving, evening feasting and regional folk masquerades.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇨🇾 Limassol, CyprusWine Festival of CyprusΓιορτή του Κρασιού
An annual autumn celebration of winemaking, folklore and food in Limassol, CyprusFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreYom HaHatzalahיום ההצלה
A Sat Hasidic holiday marking the rescue of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum from the Holocaust on the 21st of Kislev.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇷 Villa General Belgrano, ArgentinaNational Beer Festival
An annual Bavarian-style folk and beer gathering in Villa General Belgrano, Argentina.Festival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇬🇧 Worldham, United Kingdom and 5 moreJalsa Salanaجلسہ سالانہ
A three-day annual assembly for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, featuring lectures, prayers and communal meals.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇸 al-Khader, PalestineFeast of Saint George
An annual gathering of Palestinian Christians and Muslims honouring Saint GeorgeSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Lucknow, IndiaBada Mangal
A Tuesday festival in Lucknow dedicated to Hanuman, known for communal feasts and interfaith participation.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreMalam Tujuh Likurمالم توجوه ليكور
The Malay custom of lighting oil lamps during the closing nights of Ramadan.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇧🇳 BruneiBrunei Malay wedding
A multi-stage marriage ritual of the Brunei Malay community, blending Islamic vows with traditional blessings and publicRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 Manhattan, United StatesJews and Thanksgiving
An American national holiday kept by most US Jews, and debated by their rabbisFestival · Dinner
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jews and Thanksgiving: Executive Committee of Congregation Shearith Israel., Public domain, source
- Ashura in Algeria: Jan Janssonius, Public domain, source
- Fichee-Chambalaalla: User:Kebede asefa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wine Festival of Cyprus: George M. Groutas, CC BY 2.0, source
- Feast of Saint George: Onceinawhile, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- National Beer Festival: Jmmuguerza, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bada Mangal: Prabhat1729, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Malam Tujuh Likur: Qatrunan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jalsa Salana: Ceddyfresse, Public domain, source