Traditions of Europe
Carnival, Midsummer, Christmas markets, Easter, the village fête and the long Sunday lunch. 698 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
Countries
🇦🇱 Albania 26🇦🇩 Andorra 4🇦🇹 Austria 49🇧🇾 Belarus 30🇧🇪 Belgium 40🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 13🇧🇬 Bulgaria 47🇭🇷 Croatia 30🇨🇿 Czechia 18🇩🇰 Denmark 25🇪🇪 Estonia 17🇫🇮 Finland 33🇫🇷 France 91🇩🇪 Germany 113🇬🇷 Greece 67🇭🇺 Hungary 21🇮🇸 Iceland 19🇮🇪 Ireland 72🇮🇹 Italy 109🇽🇰 Kosovo 17🇱🇻 Latvia 17🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 2🇱🇹 Lithuania 22🇱🇺 Luxembourg 14🇲🇹 Malta 15🇲🇩 Moldova 11🇲🇨 Monaco 1🇲🇪 Montenegro 11🇳🇱 Netherlands 28🇲🇰 North Macedonia 23🇳🇴 Norway 37🇵🇱 Poland 70🇵🇹 Portugal 25🇷🇴 Romania 38🇷🇺 Russia 98🇸🇲 San Marino 1🇷🇸 Serbia 42🇸🇰 Slovakia 16🇸🇮 Slovenia 24🇪🇸 Spain 96🇸🇪 Sweden 45🇨🇭 Switzerland 33🇺🇦 Ukraine 44🇬🇧 United Kingdom 193🇻🇦 Vatican City 3
Cities and towns
Rome 28London 26Moscow 17Dublin 16Vienna 16Athens 14Venice 14Paris 13Seville 12Kraków 11Riga 11Valencia 11
On the calendar
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 4 moreChristmas
A festival of Jesus's birth, kept on 25 December with gifts, lights and shared mealsFestival
🇪🇸 Valencia, Spain and 5 moreFeast of Corpus ChristiCorpus Domini
A Christian feast celebrating the presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the EucharistSpiritual
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreCandlemas
A Christian feast of candle blessings marking the end of the Christmas seasonSpiritual
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSiesta
A short afternoon rest or sleep taken after the midday mealHome · Lunch
🇱🇹 LithuaniaVėlinės
A Lithuanian remembrance day honouring deceased souls with cemetery prayers and candlesSpiritual
🇵🇱 Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland and 1 moreMarch of the LivingMarsz Żywych (Polish) · מצעד החיים (Hebrew)
An annual two-week journey to Poland ending in a silent walk from Auschwitz to BirkenauCeremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreMorris dance
A rhythmic English folk dance performed in costume with bells, sticks and handkerchiefsPerformance
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreApril Fools' Day
An annual day of lighthearted pranks, hoaxes and teasing kept on the first of AprilFestival
🇨🇭 Aproz, Switzerland and 2 moreCombat de Reines
An annual Swiss pushing contest where Hérens cows compete for herd dominanceGame
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreArbor Day
An annual secular observance dedicated to planting and caring for trees around the worldCeremony
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreMaifest
A traditional German celebration marking the arrival of spring with decorated maypolesFestival
🇪🇪 EstoniaJaanipäev
Estonia's midsummer night of bonfires, song and fortune-telling, on 23 and 24 JuneFestival
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomChelsea Flower Show
A five-day May horticultural festival held in London by the Royal Horticultural SocietyFestival
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreMaslenitsaМасленица
A seven-day Eastern Slavic festival of pancakes and bonfires marking the end of winter before Lent.Festival · Breakfast
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreImbolcLá Fhéile Bríde
A Gaelic festival heralding spring and honoring Saint Brigid with woven rush crossesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve
Bonfires, feasting and worship on the short night before John the Baptist's feastSpiritual
🇩🇪 Germany and 7 moreSt. Martin's DayMartinstag
A November feast of lantern walks, bonfires, roast goose and new wineSpiritual
🇩🇪 Hamburg, Germany and 2 moreAdvent wreathAdventskranz
An evergreen ring of candles lit week by week in the lead-up to ChristmasSeasonal
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreFat Thursday
A Thursday before Lent when doughnuts, grilled meat and Carnival take overFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇪 Belgium and 5 moreSaint Nicholas Day
The feast day of Saint Nicholas, kept in Advent with gifts, shoes and church servicesSpiritual
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreSaint Stephen's Day
A Christian feast day celebrating the first martyr with feasts, rides and folk customs.Spiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyFerragosto
A public holiday on 15 August marking the Assumption of Mary and the traditional start of the Italian summer break.Festival · Lunch
🇬🇧 Edinburgh, United KingdomHogmanay
The Scottish celebration of New Year's Eve and the first days of the new year.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 3 moreMay Day
A traditional European festival welcoming summer with greenery, dances and bonfiresSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇴 Romania and 3 moreCălușariCălușarii
An acrobatic Romanian spring dance and ritual brotherhood tied to folklore and healingPerformance
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyFesta della Repubblica
Italy's national day marking the 1946 public vote to establish a democratic republicCeremony
🇸🇪 Gävle, SwedenGävle goatGävlebocken
A towering straw Yule goat built each Advent in the central square of GävleFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWhit Monday
The Christian feast and public holiday held on the day after PentecostSpiritual
🇭🇺 Mohács, HungaryBusójárás
A six-day winter carnival of carved wooden masks, folk music, and parades in MohácsFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreYule log
A log kept burning on the hearth through the twelve days of Christmas, for luckSeasonal
🇬🇧 Cardiff, United Kingdom and 1 moreSaint David's DayDydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant
The national feast day of Wales, marked with parades, poetry contests and daffodilsFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreEgg rolling
A spring game of rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down hills or along lawnsGame
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreMidnight MassMissa in nocte
The first service of Christmas, kept late on Christmas Eve in many Western churchesSpiritual
🇬🇷 GreeceAnthesteriaἈνθεστήρια
An ancient Greek three-day spring festival of Dionysus, new wine, and the deadFestival
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 3 moreRosenmontag
The peak of German carnival, celebrated with satirical street parades and sweetsFestival
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 moreRisalamande
A chilled Danish Christmas rice dessert with cream, chopped almonds and cherry sauceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇿 Vlčnov, CzechiaRide of the KingsJízda králů
A Moravian spring procession where horsemen escort a silent boy king holding a roseFestival
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 7 moreKoliadaКоляда
A traditional winter caroling and solstice festival kept across Slavic EuropeFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreClean MondayΚαθαρά Δευτέρα
The Monday that opens Great Lent, kept with fasting, forgiveness and kite-flyingSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreDidukhдідух
A wheat sheaf kept at Christmas to honour ancestors and pray for a bountiful harvestHome
🇨🇿 Czechia and 2 moreEaster whippingpomlázka
An Easter Monday custom of tapping women with braided willow switches for vitalitySeasonal
🇷🇴 RomaniaDragobete
A Romanian festival of young love and spring, celebrated with early flowers and courtshipFestival
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreJāņi
An annual Latvian summer solstice celebration of bonfires, singing and woven wreathsFestival
🇦🇹 Austria and 4 moreAlmabtrieb
An Alpine autumn custom of leading decorated cattle from high pastures to valley barnsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇭 Zurich, SwitzerlandSechseläutenSächsilüüte
Zurich's spring festival marked by guild parades and the burning of a snowman effigySeasonal
🇩🇪 Cologne, GermanyCologne CarnivalKölner Karneval
A street festival in Cologne with parades, masquerades and a ruling trioFestival
🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain and 2 moreDiada de Sant Jordi
A Catalan feast day of literature and love, marked by giving books and red rosesFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreMummers' play
A comic folk drama of staged combat, death, and revival by an eccentric doctorPerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Combat de Reines: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Christmas: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Public domain, source
- Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
- St John's Eve: Jules Breton, Public domain, source
- May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Advent wreath: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY 4.0, source
- Saint Stephen's Day: Carlo Crivelli, Public domain, source
- Călușari: El bes, CC BY 3.0, source
- Hogmanay: Robbie Shade, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ferragosto: Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Gävle goat: Sinikka Halme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Busójárás: User:Themightyquill, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Festa della Repubblica: Anthony Majanlahti, CC BY 2.0, source
- Egg rolling: White House/Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, source
- Whit Monday: Eloquence, Public domain, source
- Maslenitsa: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rosenmontag: Aymx, Public domain, source
- Anthesteria: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Koliada: Konstantin Trutovsky, Public domain, source
- Easter whipping: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint David's Day: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ride of the Kings: Filipzverina, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Risalamande: Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Didukh: Bo&Ko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Jāņi: Heinrihsons, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Almabtrieb: Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and if, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- March of the Living: No machine-readable author provided. Efka de~commonswiki assumed (base, CC BY 2.5, source
- Cologne Carnival: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sechseläuten: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Mummers' play: Aladjov, CC BY 3.0, source
- Diada de Sant Jordi: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feast of Corpus Christi: Fennec ., Public domain, source
- Candlemas: Andrea Mantegna, Public domain, source
- Jaanipäev: Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Morris dance: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Fat Thursday: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Saint Nicholas Day: Chmee2, CC BY 3.0, source
- Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
- April Fools' Day: Lars Andersen, Public domain, source
- Siesta: Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, source
- Clean Monday: Перов, Public domain, source
- Midnight Mass: Atleett, CC0, source
- Chelsea Flower Show: Nzfauna, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Arbor Day: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- St. Martin's Day: Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public domain, source