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
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainHoly Week in SpainSemana Santa
Annual Catholic penitential processions across Spain featuring floats, robes and music to mark the Passion of Christ.Spiritual
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreHandfastingceangal na lámh (Irish); pòsadh-bliadhna (Scottish Gaelic)
A couple's promise made with joined or bound hands, kept from betrothal to weddingRite of passage
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreKoulourakiaΚουλουράκια
Sweet butter pastries baked for Greek Easter and shaped into rings and braidsTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreCompadre
A ritual kinship made at a child's baptism, binding parents and godparents for lifeSpiritual
🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα
A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival
A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇫🇷 Lyon, FranceFestival of LightsFête des lumières
A four-day festival in Lyon marking December 8 with illuminated windows and light artFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreTashlikhתשליך
A Jewish new year rite of casting sins into flowing water, kept by the watersideSpiritual
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 morePentecostπεντηκοστή (pentēkostē)
The Christian feast of the Holy Spirit, kept fifty days after EasterSpiritual
🇱🇮 Vaduz, LiechtensteinLiechtenstein National DayStaatsfeiertag Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein's national holiday celebrated with castle speeches, bonfires and fireworksCeremony
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 5 moreAll Souls' Day
A Christian observance on 2 November for prayer and remembrance of those who have died.Spiritual
🇫🇷 FranceConfirmation
A Christian rite of laying on of hands that completes baptism and strengthens faithRite of passage
🇧🇪 Bruges, BelgiumProcession of the Holy BloodHeilig Bloedprocessie
An annual sacred parade and historical pageant through the streets of Bruges, Belgium.Spiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMothering Sunday
A mid-Lent Christian observance and family celebration of mothers and mother churchesSeasonal · Breakfast
🇱🇺 Echternach, LuxembourgDancing procession of EchternachIechternacher Sprangprëssioun
A Roman Catholic hopping pilgrimage honouring Saint Willibrord in eastern LuxembourgSpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreCarol service
A Christmas church service of seasonal hymns, scripture readings and candlelightSpiritual
🇮🇹 Florence, ItalyScoppio del Carro
An Easter Sunday fireworks display ignited by a flying dove in FlorenceFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Sunday
An English church blessing of the land and farm tools at the start of the yearSpiritual
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreŚwięconka
The Polish Holy Saturday blessing of baskets filled with Easter morning foodSpiritual
🇧🇪 Mons, BelgiumDucasse de Mons
An eight-day festival in Mons featuring a golden carriage and a dragon combatFestival
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreSerbian ChristmasБожић
A three-day midwinter observance focused on oak logs, floor straw and family gatheringsSpiritual · Dinner
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreSaint Patrick's DayLá Fhéile Pádraig
An annual Irish holiday of parades, church services, green dress and shamrocksFestival
🇷🇺 Moscow, RussiaChristmas in RussiaРождество Христово
An Orthodox winter feast marked by church vigils, fasting suppers and festive mealsSpiritual · Supper
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEasterΠάσχα
The day Christians mark the resurrection, kept with vigils, feasts and eggsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Olympia, Greece and 5 moreOlympic flame
A flame kindled in Greece, carried by torch to light the cauldron of each GamesCeremony
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 morePalm Sunday
A Christian Sunday feast marking Jesus's entry into Jerusalem with blessed branches.Spiritual
🇮🇪 Uisneach, Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine
A Gaelic first-of-summer festival of bonfires, May flowers and feasting on 1 MaySeasonal
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEpiphany
A January feast of the Magi, the Jordan baptism and the Cana miracle, kept by ChristiansSpiritual
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 3 moreLittle ChristmasNollaig na mBan
A January feast day marking the close of the twelve days of ChristmasSeasonal · Dinner
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomRoyal Maundy
A Church of England service where the monarch gives silver Maundy coins to older peopleSpiritual
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 2 moreAssumption of Mary
A feast on 15 August, when Christians remember Mary taken up into heavenSpiritual
🇧🇪 Antwerp, Belgium and 2 moreOmmegangommegang (Dutch)
Medieval town processions of the Low Countries, with giants, guilds and horsesCeremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreLast Post
A bugle call sounded at military funerals and remembrance services across the Commonwealth to honour those who died in sPerformance
🇵🇱 PolandEaster in Poland
A spring holiday of family breakfasts, blessed baskets, decorated eggs, and water games.Festival · Breakfast
🇵🇹 Porto, PortugalFesta de São João do Porto
Porto's midsummer festival of street feasts, fireworks and playful hammer tapsFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEvil eye
A belief in harm cast by envious glares, met with protective charms and spoken blessingsFolklore
🇷🇺 RussiaRussian wedding traditions
A Russian wedding runs two days to a week, with ransom games, crowns and toastsRite of passage
🇮🇹 Naples, Italy and 5 moreNativity scene
A seasonal set of figures showing Jesus's birth, put up by Christians at ChristmasFestival
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreZaduszkiZaduszki, Dzień Zaduszny
A Polish day of prayer for the dead on 2 November, kept with candles at the gravesSpiritual
🇪🇸 Spain and 2 moreLas arras
Thirteen gold coins, blessed at a wedding and given by the groom to the brideRite of passage
🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreYuleġēol (Old English); jól (Old Norse)
The Germanic midwinter festival that Christmas grew out of, kept today by HeathensSpiritual
🇷🇴 Romania and 1 moreColindă
A Romanian and Moldovan Christmas carol tradition where village groups sing Nativity songs door to door.Festival
🇮🇹 Venice, ItalyFesta del RedentoreFesta del Redentor
Venice's July festival of fireworks over the water, kept in thanks for the plague's endFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 6 moreAsh WednesdayDies Cinerum
A solemn Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, and the placing of ashesSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇱 PolandWigilia
Poland's meatless Christmas Eve supper, begun when the first star appearsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 4 moreKukeriкукери (kukeri)
Masked and belled figures who tour Bulgarian villages at New Year to drive off harmSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomLammashlāfmæsse
A harvest festival marking the blessing of the first baked bread from the new wheat cropSeasonal
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain
A Gaelic festival marking the start of winter with bonfires and ancestor feastsSeasonal · 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.
- Olympic flame: RuinDig/Yuki Uchida, CC BY 4.0, source
- Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
- Plough Sunday: John Cowie, CC BY 3.0, source
- Liechtenstein National Day: Förkle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ash Wednesday: Oxh973, Public domain, source
- Colindă: Post of Moldova, Public domain, source
- Festa de São João do Porto: Hugo Cadavez, CC BY 2.0, source
- Christmas in Russia: Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Easter in Poland: Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Serbian Christmas: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ducasse de Mons: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- All Souls' Day: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Public domain, source
- Tashlikh: Yaakov Saar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Handfasting: Sander van der Wel, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pentecost: See The Holy Land, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Koulourakia: foodistablog, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kukeri: Nenko Lazarov, CC BY 2.5, source
- Wigilia: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Festa del Redentore: Photographer: Riccardo Speziari, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yule: Robert Chambers, Public domain, source
- Las arras: penny, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nativity scene: Yvonne Bentele, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Russian wedding traditions: GeorgeLouis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ommegang: Zorro2212, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Royal Maundy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Assumption of Mary: Jebulon, CC0, source
- Epiphany: Gentile da Fabriano, Public domain, source
- Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
- Last Post: User:EnEdC, Public domain, source
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Whit Tuesday: David Edgar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holy Week in Spain: Rodelar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Confirmation: Unknown author, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saint Patrick's Day: rannṗáirtí anaiṫnid ( coṁrá ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Festival of Lights: Corentin Eustacchi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Procession of the Holy Blood: Cbl62, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mothering Sunday: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Palm Sunday: Pietro Lorenzetti, Public domain, source
- Zaduszki: Ivan Mrkvička, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Święconka: Błażej Benisz, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Beltane: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lammas: Paddy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source