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.

About this page

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.

🇳🇴 NorwayJul An eight-week Norwegian midwinter season of feasts, family gatherings, and gift-givingSeasonal · Lunch

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreSuper Bowl Sunday The day the NFL championship is played, kept with gatherings and buffet foodFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇦🇲 Armenia and 1 moreTrndezտրնդեզ An Armenian fire feast forty days after Christmas, kept with bonfires and shared sweetsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 1 moreLaba congee腊八粥 A ceremonial Chinese porridge of rice, beans and dried fruit, eaten at the Laba FestivalTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇳 IndiaSadyaസദ്യ A vegetarian feast from Kerala, served on a banana leaf at Onam, Vishu and weddingsTable custom · Lunch

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreSimchat Torahשִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה The day Jewish communities finish the Torah reading and start it again, with dancingSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreReunion dinner團圓飯 A family gathering meal on lunar new year's eve, kept in China and VietnamTable custom · Dinner

🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreSmorgasbordsmörgåsbord A Swedish table of hot and cold dishes where guests serve themselvesTable custom · Lunch

🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanJapanese tea ceremony茶道 (Sadō / Chadō), 茶の湯 (Chanoyu) The formal serving of powdered matcha, shaped by Zen, Shinto and wabiTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇺🇦 Ukraine and 4 moreKorovaiкоровай (Ukrainian), каравай (Russian) A round wedding bread of Eastern Europe, baked with songs and shared by all the guestsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 4 moreBabindenБабинден A Bulgarian feast honoring midwives and new mothers with rituals of bathing, feasting, and blessing.Festival · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇷 Mashhad, Iran and 7 moreIftarإفطار The sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, eaten with family and communityTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreWedding reception The party after a wedding, where the couple greet guests over food, cake and dancingFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreChallahחַלָּה A braided Jewish bread, blessed and shared at Shabbat and holiday tablesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇵🇱 PolandWigilia Poland's meatless Christmas Eve supper, begun when the first star appearsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreBar and bat mitzvahבַּר מִצְוָה / בַּת מִצְוָה A Jewish rite of passage marking when youth reach adulthood and take responsibility for their own actions.Rite of passage · Feasts and festival meals

🇱🇰 Sri LankaKiribathකිරිබත් Rice cooked in coconut milk, the dish of Sinhalese New Year and family beginningsTable custom · Breakfast

🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaSupraსუფრა A Georgian feast led by a toastmaster, where toasts, wine and food carry the mealTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreZakuskiзакуски A laid-out table of cold small dishes that opens a Russian festive mealTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs

🇺🇸 United StatesLūʻau A Hawaiian feast of kālua pig and poi, eaten by hand outdoors with music and hulaTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreCrayfish partykräftskiva Boiled crayfish, snaps and paper lanterns at a late-summer party in Sweden and FinlandTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreTailgate party Grilling, sharing and drinking beside a car before the game, mostly in North AmericaTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 moreAsado A slow fire, a grill and a shared table: how people gather to cook and eat meatTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇵🇷 Puerto Rico and 1 moreParranda A Puerto Rican Christmas custom of night-time visits with songs, food and drinkPerformance · Supper

🇮🇩 Jakarta, Indonesia and 3 moreRijsttafel Many small dishes around rice: a colonial-era banquet still served in the NetherlandsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇺🇸 Cleveland, United StatesClambake Shellfish steamed over seaweed in a pit, eaten outdoors along the New England coastTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇳🇬 Abuja, NigeriaNew Yam FestivalIri ji A yearly harvest thanksgiving across Nigeria, when the first new yams may be eatenFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇪🇨 Quito, EcuadorFanesca Ecuador's Holy Week soup of grains, beans and salt cod, made for Good FridayTable custom · Lunch

🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 4 moreSinterklaasSinterklaas / Sint-Nicolaas A Dutch winter feast on 5 and 6 December, when Saint Nicholas brings gifts to childrenFestival · Sweets given and shared

🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaTumpengꦠꦸꦩ꧀ꦥꦼꦁ (Javanese); ᬢᬸᬫ᭄ᬧᭂᬂ (Balinese) A tall cone of rice ringed with side dishes, central to Javanese ceremonies and partiesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 4 moreBeshbarmakбешбармак Boiled meat and noodles, eaten by hand from one platter, with a set cut for each guestTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreVasilopitaΒασιλόπιτα A New Year bread or cake with a coin baked inside, shared out slice by sliceTable custom · Sweets given and shared

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEasterΠάσχα The day Christians mark the resurrection, kept with vigils, feasts and eggsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 5 moreCarnival A season of parades, masks and feasting in the days before LentFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas dinner The festive family meal of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, with roast meats and puddingsTable custom · Dinner 🇬🇭 GhanaOutdooringkpojiemɔ (Ga), abadinto (Akan), vihehedego (Ewe) A Ghanaian ceremony eight days after birth, when a baby is brought outdoors and namedRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals

🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 3 moreMalankaМаланка A Ukrainian folk celebration of masked mummers, feasting and New Year blessingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNativity of Mary A Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusSpiritual · Lunch

🇮🇹 Rome, ItalySaturnalia A December festival of ancient Rome, with feasting, gifts, gambling and role reversalSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇷 GreeceSymposiumσυμπόσιον An ancient Greek post-meal gathering for diluted wine, debate, music and lively gamesTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyBacchanalia An ancient Roman mystery festival dedicated to the god of wine and ecstasyFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreLibation The ceremonial gift of drink given to deities, ancestors, and the earthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇹🇷 Edirne, TurkeyKakava A Romani night by the river in Edirne: bonfire, candles and pilafFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇪🇬 EgyptOpening of the mouth ceremony An ancient Egyptian rite to awaken a spirit's senses for the afterlifeRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals

🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreRadonitsaРа́доница (Russian), Ра́даўніца (Belarusian) A spring day when Orthodox families visit graves, share Easter food and greet the deadSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇨🇳 Yulin, ChinaYulin Dog Meat Festival狗肉节 A ten-day June festival in Yulin, China, where dog meat is eaten with lycheesFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇳 Madurai, India and 4 morePuthanduபுத்தாண்டு (Puttāṇṭu) The first day of the Tamil solar calendar, celebrated by Tamils with family feasts and auspicious trays.Festival · Feasts and festival meals

Photo credits on this page

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

Sadya: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Shabbat meals: Yoninah, Public domain, source
Igbo New Yam Festival: Adimora chidinma, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Malanka: Viktoriyasechkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Super Bowl Sunday: Tech. Sgt. Steve Horton, U.S. Air Force, Public domain, source
Trndez: Armineaghayan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Laba congee: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Simchat Torah: No machine-readable author provided. Merlin assumed (based on copyrigh, CC BY 2.5, source
Smorgasbord: Jordan Klein, CC BY 2.0, source
Japanese tea ceremony: Photograph taken by Stephane D'Alu ( en:User:Sdalu ) in April 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Korovai: Olli Niemitalo, CC0, source
Babinden: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Iftar: Shariful Islam (Masum), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Wedding reception: Konstantin Makovsky, Public domain, source
Wigilia: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bar and bat mitzvah: Peter van der Sluijs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Kiribath: AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Supra: Public domain Public domain false false This work is in the public dom, Public domain, source
Zakuski: Timothy Post, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Lūʻau: Ralawami, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Crayfish party: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tailgate party: Ben Vardi, Public domain, source
Asado: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Parranda: Marine 69-71, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Rijsttafel: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Clambake: inuyaki.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Fanesca: Agencia de Noticias ANDES, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Sinterklaas: R.F. (Roel) Jorna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tumpeng: brother-harahap, CC BY 2.0, source
Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
Beshbarmak: NataAllice, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
Carnival: Etienne Le Cocq, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
Kakava: CeeGee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Radonitsa: Perohanych, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Yulin Dog Meat Festival: Maria Ly, CC BY 2.0, source
Puthandu: Amila Tennakoon, CC BY 2.0, source
Christmas dinner: Austin McGee, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Nativity of Mary: Giotto, Public domain, source
Bacchanalia: Nicolas Poussin, Public domain, source
Symposium: Nikias Painter, CC BY 2.5, source
Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Opening of the mouth ceremony: Hunefer, Public domain, source