Sweets given and shared
Sweets handed out at a birth, a wedding or a festival, and offered at a shrine.
Sweets matter in tradition as things given: handed out at a birth, brought to a wedding, sent to neighbours on a festival day, offered at a shrine. These pages are about the customs of giving and sharing sweets, not about how they are made. For dishes and recipes, see Thali.
Given, not just eaten
A box of sweets carried to a new house, shared after an exam result or distributed at a naming ceremony is a message: good news, goodwill, thanks. Who gives, who receives and how many are offered usually follow clear rules.
Offered to the sacred
Many faiths offer something sweet to a deity, a saint or the ancestors, then share it among the people present. The offering is part of the rite, and the sharing afterwards completes it.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Sweets given and shared (meal). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇲🇽 Mexico City, Mexico and 1 moreDay of the DeadDía de Muertos
A Mexican remembrance of deceased family and friends with altars, marigolds and feastsFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreMid-Autumn Festival中秋節
An annual harvest festival celebrating family reunions, full moons and mooncakesFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreMaslenitsaМасленица
A seven-day Eastern Slavic festival of pancakes and bonfires marking the end of winter before Lent.Festival · Breakfast
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreYaldā Nightشب یلدا
A solstice night of poetry, fruit and family, kept from Iran through Central AsiaFestival · Dinner
🇮🇳 India and 5 morePongal
Three or four days of boiling rice, garlanded cattle and thanks to the sunSeasonal · Sweets given and shared
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreFat Thursday
A Thursday before Lent when doughnuts, grilled meat and Carnival take overFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 1 moreChhath Pujaछठ पूजा
A four-day Hindu festival honouring the sun and Chhathi Maiya along riverbanksSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreDouble Ninth Festival重陽節
An autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceSeasonal · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 moreRisalamande
A chilled Danish Christmas rice dessert with cream, chopped almonds and cherry sauceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreSharad Purnima
A Hindu autumn full moon festival of night vigils, moonlit sweets and sacred dancesSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇿 AzerbaijanNovruzNovruz Bayramı
The Azerbaijani spring equinox festival of bonfires, sweets and sprouted wheatSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Jaipur, IndiaGangaurगणगौर
A North Indian spring festival honouring Shiva and Gauri with clay idols and processionsFestival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇪 Lima, PeruLord of MiraclesSeñor de los Milagros
An October Catholic festival in Lima honouring a miraculous mural of ChristSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNaraka Chaturdashi
The dawn festival of oil baths, ancestor lamps, and harvest foods during DiwaliFestival · Breakfast
🇰🇭 Phnom Penh, Cambodia and 1 moreBon Om Toukបុណ្យអុំទូក
A three-day Cambodian festival of dragon boat races, floating lanterns and moon offeringsFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇮🇳 Tiruvannamalai, India and 1 moreKarthika DeepamKārtikai Tīpam
A Tamil and Malayali Hindu festival of lights honouring Shiva, Kartikeya and ParvatiSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBohag Bihu
A multi-day Assamese New Year festival of cattle rites, music, gifts and feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇸🇪 SwedenJul
A midwinter holiday of feast tables, doorstep gift givers, and candlelit morningsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaMagh Bihu
A harvest festival of bonfires, feasts and winter games in AssamSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇿 Bukhara, UzbekistanNavruzNavroʻz
The spring equinox festival celebrated across Uzbekistan with sumalak and family visits.Seasonal · 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
🇵🇰 Lahore, Pakistan and 1 moreBasant
A Punjabi spring festival marked by rooftop kite flying, yellow clothing and fairsFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMothering Sunday
A mid-Lent Christian observance and family celebration of mothers and mother churchesSeasonal · Breakfast
🇩🇰 DenmarkJul
Winter feasts, carols around the tree, and family gatherings across DenmarkFestival · Lunch
🇦🇫 Mazar-i-Sharif, AfghanistanNowruzنوروز
The Afghan spring new year, celebrated with picnics, wheat pudding and dried fruit.Seasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 Jijona, Spain and 5 moreTurrón
A festive Mediterranean nut-and-honey confection shared at Christmas and local feastsTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreSaffron bun
A golden, spiced yeast roll flavoured with saffron, baked for festive and holy daysTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇦🇲 Armenia and 1 moreTrndezտրնդեզ
An Armenian fire feast forty days after Christmas, kept with bonfires and shared sweetsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇯🇵 JapanTango no sekku端午の節句
A Japanese seasonal festival for children marked with carp streamers and iris leaves.Festival · Sweets given and shared
🇳🇱 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
🇮🇷 Ashtian, Iran and 5 moreSamanuسمنو
A sweet sprouted-wheat paste stirred through the night for NowruzTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇷 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
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 5 moreCarnival
A season of parades, masks and feasting in the days before LentFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇴 NorwayJul
An eight-week Norwegian midwinter season of feasts, family gatherings, and gift-givingSeasonal · Lunch
🇻🇳 Hội An, VietnamTết Trung Thu節中秋
A mid-autumn festival of lanterns, mooncakes and folklore celebrated across VietnamFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNativity of Mary
A Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusSpiritual · Lunch
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreOld New YearСтарый Новый год (Russian), Стара Нова година (Macedonian), Српска Нова година (Serbian), Hen Galan (Welsh)
An informal holiday marking the start of the Julian calendar year, celebrated on 14 January in the Gregorian calendar.Festival · Dinner
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTwelve Days of Christmas
A festive Christian liturgical season linking Christmas Day to the eve of EpiphanySeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreMid-Sha'banنصف شعبان
An Islamic night of prayer, forgiveness, ancestral remembrance and sweet offeringsSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 4 moreDongzhi Festival冬至
A winter solstice festival of family reunions, ancestor rites and sweet rice ballsSeasonal · Dinner
🇹🇷 Bursa, TurkeyLaylat al-Raghaibلَيْلَةُ الرّغائِب
An Islamic night of prayer and fasting at the beginning of the three sacred monthsSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreGustavus Adolphus DayGustav Adolfsdagen
A Swedish flag day on 6 November, marked with a pastry topped with the king's likenessCeremony · Sweets given and shared
🇹🇳 Tunisia and 1 moreBsisaبسيسة
A North African grain and oil ritual to unlock blessings for the yearTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreJur Sitalजुड़ शीतल
The first day of the Maithil year, kept with a rice meal, gifts and water blessingsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇸 Jerusalem, Palestine and 1 moreThursday of the Deadخميس الأموات
A spring day of cemetery visits, prayer, and shared yellow breads across the LevantSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreTweezaتويزة
A North African tradition of communal voluntary work, mutual aid and shared harvestsCeremony · Dinner
🇬🇪 GeorgiaTheodore's Saturday
The first Saturday of Lent, kept with boiled wheat and visits to the gravesSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreSaint Knut's DayTjugondag Knut
A Nordic holiday marking the twentieth and final day of Christmas each JanuarySeasonal · Sweets given and shared
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bon Om Touk: Codas, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dongzhi Festival: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pongal: Saral Shots, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mid-Sha'ban: sayyed shahab-o- din vajedi, CC BY 4.0, source
- Chhath Puja: Steffen Gauger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maslenitsa: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mid-Autumn Festival: Shizhao, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Jul: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Risalamande: Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lord of Miracles: Miguel Chong, Public domain, source
- Novruz: Abutalub, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Navruz: dalbera, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saffron bun: Nenniu, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tết Trung Thu: The imperial government of the Nguyễn Dynasty, French Indo-China., Public domain, source
- Jul: Erik Christensen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sharad Purnima: ShotgunMavericks, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nowruz: Peretz Partensky, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Turrón: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Gangaur: Avinashmaurya, CC BY 3.0, source
- Chuseok: by Joseph Steinberg (Baltimoron in Korea) at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Basant: Haseeb Ahmad Farooqi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Naraka Chaturdashi: India (Delhi Agra area), Public domain, source
- Karthika Deepam: SriniG, Public domain, source
- Mothering Sunday: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bohag Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fat Thursday: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Magh Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY 2.0, source
- Trndez: Armineaghayan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tango no sekku: tiseb, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sinterklaas: R.F. (Roel) Jorna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Samanu: Myone63, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
- Carnival: Etienne Le Cocq, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yaldā Night: M.Sadegh Nikgostar/Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, source
- Gustavus Adolphus Day: Jacob Truedson Demitz for Ristesson, Public domain, source
- Jur Sital: PCNWorld at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nativity of Mary: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Old New Year: ceridwen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Twelve Days of Christmas: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Bsisa: Kamelgazzah, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tweeza: Demeester, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Day of the Dead: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source