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.
🇨🇱 ChileCurantokurantu
A traditional earth oven feast of seafood, meat, and potatoes from Chiloé, ChileTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBarn raising
A communal tradition where neighbours assemble to erect a farm barn in a few daysCraft · Lunch
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreIslamic marriageنِكَاح
The sacred contract, agreement and wedding celebration forming an Islamic marriageRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 Chicago, United States and 4 moreKwanzaa
A seven-day African American celebration of heritage, family and community valuesFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇸 SerbiaSlavaСлава
An annual Serbian family feast honouring their patron saint with blessed bread and wineSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreHoʻoponopono
A Hawaiian family ritual of prayer, confession and forgiveness that sets wrongs rightSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇷 Shiraz, IranHaft-sinهفتسین
Seven symbolic items whose Persian names begin with S, set out for NowruzSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas cracker
A decorative paper tube pulled apart with a bang during Christmas dinnerFestival · Dinner
🇮🇳 Goa, India and 2 moreBhai Doojभाई दूज
A Hindu festival of sibling bonds marked by forehead markings, feasts and blessingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇵 Nepal and 2 moreTiharतिहार
A five-day Nepalese festival honoring animals, deities, and the bond between siblingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreLakshmi Pujaलक्ष्मीपूजा
A Hindu festival of lamps, prayers and offerings welcoming the goddess of prosperitySpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreSerbian ChristmasБожић
A three-day midwinter observance focused on oak logs, floor straw and family gatheringsSpiritual · Dinner
🇫🇮 FinlandChristmas in Finlandjoulu
A quiet midwinter festival of saunas, grave candles and table casseroles across FinlandSeasonal · Dinner
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreRussian tea culture
The everyday cup of Russia, brewed strong and diluted to taste, with jam and sweetsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreNovy GodНовый Год
A secular winter celebration of decorated trees, family feasts and midnight giftsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇻🇳 Hội An, VietnamTết Trung Thu節中秋
A mid-autumn festival of lanterns, mooncakes and folklore celebrated across VietnamFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMothering Sunday
A mid-Lent Christian observance and family celebration of mothers and mother churchesSeasonal · Breakfast
🇻🇳 VietnamTếtTết Nguyên Đán
The Vietnamese festival of the lunar new year, welcoming spring with family gatheringsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Athens, GreeceAmphidromiaτὰ Ἀμφιδρόμια
An ancient Athenian family ritual welcoming a newborn around the household hearthRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 New York, United StatesBark Mitzvah
A lighthearted coming of age celebration held by dog owners for their petsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇶 IraqShabbat mealsסעודות שבת
Three ritual meals eaten across the Jewish Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday nightTable custom · Dinner
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Shabbat meals: Yoninah, Public domain, source
- Slava: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kwanzaa: Apavlo at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Bhai Dooj: SandeshLamsalNepal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tihar: Sreekumar K. S., CC BY 2.0, source
- Christmas cracker: en:User:Cgros841, Public domain, source
- Tết Trung Thu: The imperial government of the Nguyễn Dynasty, French Indo-China., Public domain, source
- Novy God: Евгений Самарин, CC BY 4.0, source
- Christmas in Finland: Uploaded by Sigketill, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Barn raising: Alexander W. Galbraith, Public domain, source
- Tết: vi:Lưu Ly, Public domain, source
- Lakshmi Puja: Subharnab Majumdar, CC BY 2.0, source
- Serbian Christmas: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mothering Sunday: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Haft-sin: HengamehRM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hoʻoponopono: Makana Chai, Public domain, source
- Curanto: Lin linao, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Russian tea culture: Boris Kustodiev, Public domain, source
- Islamic marriage: عامر شاہین, CC BY-SA 3.0, source