Traditions of Europe
Carnival, Midsummer, Christmas markets, Easter, the village fête and the long Sunday lunch. 714 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
Countries
🇦🇱 Albania 27🇦🇩 Andorra 4🇦🇹 Austria 50🇧🇾 Belarus 30🇧🇪 Belgium 40🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 16🇧🇬 Bulgaria 49🇭🇷 Croatia 33🇨🇿 Czechia 20🇩🇰 Denmark 26🇪🇪 Estonia 18🇫🇮 Finland 34🇫🇷 France 91🇩🇪 Germany 115🇬🇷 Greece 69🇭🇺 Hungary 22🇮🇸 Iceland 20🇮🇪 Ireland 77🇮🇹 Italy 114🇽🇰 Kosovo 20🇱🇻 Latvia 18🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 2🇱🇹 Lithuania 22🇱🇺 Luxembourg 14🇲🇹 Malta 15🇲🇩 Moldova 11🇲🇨 Monaco 1🇲🇪 Montenegro 13🇳🇱 Netherlands 29🇲🇰 North Macedonia 26🇳🇴 Norway 38🇵🇱 Poland 70🇵🇹 Portugal 27🇷🇴 Romania 39🇷🇺 Russia 102🇸🇲 San Marino 1🇷🇸 Serbia 44🇸🇰 Slovakia 19🇸🇮 Slovenia 25🇪🇸 Spain 96🇸🇪 Sweden 45🇨🇭 Switzerland 34🇺🇦 Ukraine 47🇬🇧 United Kingdom 201🇻🇦 Vatican City 3
Cities and towns
Rome 30London 26Moscow 18Dublin 17Vienna 16Athens 14Venice 14Paris 13Seville 12Kraków 11Riga 11Valencia 11
On the calendar
🇬🇧 Goodwood, United KingdomGoodwood Festival of Speed
A yearly British motorsport festival where cars and bikes race up a hill in West SussexFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreAnastenariaΑναστενάρια
A barefoot firewalking and dance rite honouring Saint Constantine and Saint HelenSpiritual
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreTranslation of relicsTranslatio
The ceremonial transfer of holy remains or relics to a new church or shrineSpiritual
🇳🇱 Wageningen, NetherlandsLiberation DayBevrijdingsdag
A Dutch national holiday on 5 May marking the end of German occupation in 1945Ceremony
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreCavalcade of Magi
A parade of the Three Magi through town on Epiphany Eve, with sweets thrown to the crowdFestival
🇦🇱 Albania and 5 moreDodolaДодoла / Dodola
A Balkan rainmaking ritual where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summer showers.Festival
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVinalia
Ancient Roman festivals honoring Jupiter and Venus with wine libations to bless the harvest and ensure good weather.Festival
🇮🇹 ItalyConsualia
Ancient Roman harvest festivals honoring the god of stored grain with chariot races and decorated draft animals.Festival
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKoledariколядники
A Slavic winter caroling custom of visiting homes with songs, masks and blessingsFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 8 moreSaint Joseph's Day
A 19 March feast honouring Jesus' earthly father, kept with altars and processionsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreKing's Official Birthday
A day when Commonwealth realms mark the monarch's birthday, seldom the real dateCeremony
🇫🇷 FranceLa soule
A rough medieval ball game from Normandy and Picardy played between parishes on religious holidays.Game
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandic National DayÞjóðhátíðardagurinn
Iceland's national day, 17 June, marking the founding of the republic in 1944Ceremony
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyMegalesiaMegalenses Ludi
An ancient Roman spring festival of theatrical plays, races and feasts for CybeleFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Italy and 6 morePatronal festivalFiesta patronal
A town's yearly feast for its patron saint, with processions, a fair and shared foodFestival
🇲🇨 MonacoInternational Circus Festival of Monte-CarloFestival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo
A January circus competition in Monaco, with Clown statuettes for the finest actsFestival
🇸🇪 Stockholm, SwedenSweden Finns' Dayruotsinsuomalaisten päivä (Finnish); sverigefinnarnas dag (Swedish)
An annual day in Sweden for the Sweden Finns, their language and their historyFestival
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreRosalia
An ancient Roman festival of decorating graves, statues, and standards with fresh flowersSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyEquirria
Two ancient Roman festivals of horse and chariot racing held in honor of Mars.Festival
🇵🇱 Zakopane, PolandKulig
A traditional Polish winter sleigh ride party celebrated during the Carnival seasonFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 10 moreEgg decorating
Decorating eggs with dye, wax and carving, kept at Easter, Nowruz and springCraft
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Sylvester's Day
A Christian feast day and year-end celebration marked across Europe and beyondSeasonal · Dinner
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaRemembrance Day of the Latvian LegionnairesLeģionāru piemiņas diena
An annual observance in Latvia honoring soldiers from the Latvian Legion who fought during World War II.Festival
🇷🇺 Chukaly, RussiaRas'ken' OzksРаськень Озкс
A triennial gathering and ancestral prayer ritual of the Erzya people in MordoviaSpiritual
🇧🇬 BulgariaJuly Morning
A Bulgarian summer gathering where crowds watch the first sunrise of July with music and song.Festival
🇧🇬 Plovdiv, Bulgaria and 8 moreDay of Slavonic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and CultureДен на българската просвета и култура и на славянската писменост
Bulgaria's public holiday for its alphabet, schools and culture, kept each 24 MayFestival
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreInternet DayDía de Internet
An annual May observance dedicated to digital access, education and online community.Ceremony
🇮🇹 ItalyMeditrinalia
An ancient Roman festival on October 11 to bless the new wine harvest with libations.Festival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇧🇦 Sarajevo, Bosnia and HerzegovinaIndependence Day of Bosnia and HerzegovinaDan nezavisnosti
A public holiday on 1 March marking the 1992 vote for independenceCeremony
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBiikebrennenBiikebrånen
Fires lit at sunset on 21 February to send winter away in North FrisiaFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreDelphic Games of the modern era
Global competitions and exhibitions across the arts, modelled on ancient Greek gamesPerformance
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreMeteņi
A Latvian pre-Lenten festival marking the turn of time and welcoming spring.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Amyclae, GreeceHyacinthiaὙακίνθια
A three-day ancient Spartan festival marking the death and rebirth of HyacinthusFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVolturnalia
An ancient Roman festival honouring the water deity Volturnus and his daughter JuturnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreTurońTuroń (Polish), Turoň (Slovak)
A shaggy horned beast led from house to house by carol singers at carnival timeFolklore
🇮🇸 IcelandFirst Day of Summersumardagurinn fyrsti
Iceland's holiday on the first Thursday after 18 April, opening the old calendar's summerSeasonal
🇮🇪 Galway, IrelandSeachtain na Gaeilge
Seventeen days of Irish-language events, from 1 March to St Patrick's DayFestival
🇷🇴 Bucharest, Romania and 5 moreRomanian Language DayZiua Limbii Române
A single day, 31 August, given to the Romanian language in three countriesCeremony
🇮🇹 ItalyDivalia
A Roman festival held on December 21 to honor the goddess Angerona.Festival
🇧🇪 Ghent, BelgiumGentse Feesten
Ten days of free music, theatre and street performance across central Ghent every JulyFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreHip hip hooray
A traditional celebratory cheer of call and response to honour someoneFestival
🇬🇷 Thebes, GreeceDaphnephoria
A nine-year festival in ancient Thebes featuring a laurel-bearer procession for Apollo.Festival
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandChalandamarz
A bell-ringing march on the first of March that sends winter out of the Grisons valleysSeasonal
🇬🇷 Orchomenus, GreeceAgrionia
An ancient Greek nocturnal festival dedicated to Dionysus AgrioniusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇪 Geraardsbergen, BelgiumKrakelingen and Tonnekensbrand
A bread throw and a hilltop bonfire that close the winter in GeraardsbergenFestival
🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 5 moreDodola and Perperuna
A rainmaking ritual kept across Southeast Europe, where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summerSpiritual
🇧🇦 Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1 moreMedjugorje International Youth Festival
A six-day August gathering of Catholic youth in Medjugorje, Bosnia and HerzegovinaFestival
🇬🇷 Athens, GreeceDionysiaΔιονύσια
Ancient Athenian festivals of theatre, processions and sacrifices in honour of the god Dionysus.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.
- Vinalia: JPS68 via photoshop, Public domain, source
- Delphic Games of the modern era: Achilles Painter, Public domain, source
- Ras'ken' Ozks: Erzianj jurnalist, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Day of Slavonic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Medjugorje International Youth Festival: Piotr Frydecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Liberation Day: Wouter Hagens, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cavalcade of Magi: Diario de Madrid, CC BY 4.0, source
- Saint Joseph's Day: Guido Reni, Public domain, source
- Egg decorating: L.Kenzel, CC BY 3.0, source
- Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Smooth O, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Romanian Language Day: Razvan Socol, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- First Day of Summer: ArniGael, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Turoń: Museum: The Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, CC0, source
- Gentse Feesten: Gordito1869, CC BY 3.0, source
- King's Official Birthday: City of Toronto, Public domain, source
- Dionysia: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Anastenaria: Artkostov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Translation of relics: User:Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dodola: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source
- Koledari: Mikhail Germashev, Public domain, source
- La soule: Unknown author Unknown author illustrator (based on a sketch by M.J.L., Public domain, source
- Daphnephoria: Frederic Leighton, Public domain, source
- Kulig: various, Public domain, source
- Meditrinalia: Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Chalandamarz: Claudio Schneider, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Biikebrennen: Borstenpinsel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo: GeorgePrikkel, Public domain, source
- Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrand: Jan Coppens at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- July Morning: Sumto, Public domain, source
- Rosalia: Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Public domain, source
- Meteņi: Spekozols, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Patronal festival: Ranieljosecastaneda, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Sylvester's Day: Unknown medieval artist in Rome, Public domain, source
- Goodwood Festival of Speed: Bruno Postle, CC BY-SA 2.0, source