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.
🇹🇷 Turkey and 5 moreEid al-Fitrعيد الفطر
The feast that ends Ramadan, opened with morning prayers, sweets and visits homeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelPassoverפסח
A Jewish spring festival celebrating freedom from slavery with ritual mealsSpiritual · Dinner
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 morePurimפּוּרִים
A lively Jewish festival of storytelling, shared food, masks and charityFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇷 TurkeyRamadan in Turkey
A holy month of fasting, prayer, and community meals, observed across Turkey with unique local customs.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreKhordad Salخرداد روز
A Zoroastrian festival marking the birth of the prophet Zarathushtra with prayers and feasts.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 IsraelMishloach manotמשלוח מנות
Food parcels exchanged on Purim, so everyone has plenty for the day's festive mealSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelShavuotשבועות
A late-spring Jewish festival of the wheat harvest and the giving of the TorahSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreYaldā Nightشب یلدا
A solstice night of poetry, fruit and family, kept from Iran through Central AsiaFestival · Dinner
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelPassover Sederסדר פסח
A ritual meal opening Passover, told over wine, matzah and symbolic foodsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇷 Turkey and 6 moreHıdırellez
A spring festival marking the meeting of two prophets, celebrated across Turkey and the Balkans.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇷 Shiraz, IranHaft-sinهفتسین
Seven symbolic items whose Persian names begin with S, set out for NowruzSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇷 Amol, Iran and 3 moreTirganتیرگان (Tirgān)
An ancient Iranian summer festival of water, poetry and rainbow bands, kept on the thirteenth day of Tir.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇷 Yazd, Iran and 1 moreSadehسده
An ancient midwinter festival of fire, light, and the approach of springFestival · 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
🇱🇧 Beirut, Lebanon and 7 moreEid il-Burbaraعيد البربارة
A winter feast of costumes, sweet boiled wheat, and sprouting seeds across the LevantFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇸 Jericho, PalestineNabi Musaٱلنَّبِي مُوْسَى
An annual Palestinian Muslim pilgrimage and festival honoring the prophet MosesSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 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
🇮🇷 Mashhad, Iran and 7 moreIftarإفطار
The sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, eaten with family and communityTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreChallahחַלָּה
A braided Jewish bread, blessed and shared at Shabbat and holiday tablesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇷 Edirne, TurkeyKakava
A Romani night by the river in Edirne: bonfire, candles and pilafFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇾 Limassol, CyprusWine Festival of CyprusΓιορτή του Κρασιού
An annual autumn celebration of winemaking, folklore and food in Limassol, CyprusFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇶 IraqShabbat mealsסעודות שבת
Three ritual meals eaten across the Jewish Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday nightTable custom · Dinner
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 2 morePassover sacrificeקרבן פסח
The lamb offering eaten at the start of Passover, from the Exodus storySpiritual · 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
🇮🇱 IsraelEve of Passover on Shabbatערב פסח
Special Jewish calendar customs when the eve of Passover coincides with the SabbathSeasonal · Dinner
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Eve of Passover on Shabbat: בעלת הזכויות - טלי אמתי, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shabbat meals: Yoninah, Public domain, source
- Eid al-Fitr: Mohammed Tawsif Salam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hıdırellez: Правительство Республики Крым, CC BY 4.0, source
- Passover: User:RadRafe~commonswiki, Public domain, source
- Sadeh: Farzad j, Public domain, source
- Tirgan: LACIPETO, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Purim: Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, source
- Mishloach manot: Yoninah, CC BY 2.5, source
- Eid il-Burbara: Durziil89, CC0, source
- Nabi Musa: Mujaddara, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shavuot: https://www.flickr.com/people/69061470@N05, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Passover Seder: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Haft-sin: HengamehRM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ramadan in Turkey: Wiki leylek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Simchat Torah: No machine-readable author provided. Merlin assumed (based on copyrigh, CC BY 2.5, source
- Iftar: Shariful Islam (Masum), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bar and bat mitzvah: Peter van der Sluijs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Passover sacrifice: מפוכח, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yaldā Night: M.Sadegh Nikgostar/Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, source
- Kakava: CeeGee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feast of Saint George: Onceinawhile, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wine Festival of Cyprus: George M. Groutas, CC BY 2.0, source