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
🇷🇺 Chukaly, RussiaRas'ken' OzksРаськень Озкс
A triennial gathering and ancestral prayer ritual of the Erzya people in MordoviaSpiritual
🇧🇦 Bosnia and HerzegovinaDay of Republika SrpskaДан Републике Српске
An annual civic holiday observed across Republika Srpska on 9 JanuaryCeremony
🇬🇷 GreeceSparagmosσπαραγμός
An ancient Greek Dionysian sacrificial rite of tearing an offering apartSpiritual
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreNavigium Isidis
An ancient Roman ship procession honouring Isis and the opening of sea travelSpiritual
🇳🇴 NorwayEsbat
A Wiccan coven gathering held each month, most often when the moon is fullSpiritual
🇵🇹 Portugal and 3 moreSalting the earth
An ancient ritual of scattering salt over ruined ground to curse its future useFolklore
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVolturnalia
An ancient Roman festival honouring the water deity Volturnus and his daughter JuturnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Amyclae, GreeceHyacinthiaὙακίνθια
A three-day ancient Spartan festival marking the death and rebirth of HyacinthusFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 ItalyAmburbium
A Roman rite to cleanse the city walls through a sacred procession and animal offerings.Spiritual
🇮🇹 ItalyDivalia
A Roman festival held on December 21 to honor the goddess Angerona.Festival
🇬🇷 Thebes, GreeceDaphnephoria
A nine-year festival in ancient Thebes featuring a laurel-bearer procession for Apollo.Festival
🇬🇷 Orchomenus, GreeceAgrionia
An ancient Greek nocturnal festival dedicated to Dionysus AgrioniusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇱 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
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSkyclad ritual
A practice of performing Wiccan and Pagan rites without clothing to express truth and spiritual freedom.Spiritual
🇩🇪 Wittenberg, Germany and 1 moreVersus populum
A liturgical stance where the priest celebrates Mass facing the congregation from the opposite side of the altar.Spiritual
🇵🇱 Poland and 6 morePolaznik
The first visitor to cross the threshold at Christmas, read as a sign of the year to comeFolklore
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSecular coming-of-age ceremony
A non-religious rite of passage for adolescents in Europe and North America, marking the transition to adulthood throughRite of passage
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTelling the bees
A Western European custom of informing honeybees about major household events like deaths and weddings.Folklore
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreRäucherkerze
A scented incense cone burned in German and Czech homes during the Christmas season to fill rooms with fragrance.Festival
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreLazariceлазарице
A spring procession of girls in flower wreaths, singing door to door before Palm SundaySpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomBean-nighe
A Scottish spirit of the streams who washes shrouds to foretell deathFolklore
🇸🇰 SlovakiaJasličkári
A Slovak Christmas custom of young men acting out the Nativity from house to houseFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVenus Verticordia
A Roman cult of Venus as the turner of hearts, kept by married womenSpiritual
🇵🇹 Lisbon, PortugalGraça Procession of the Lord of the PassionProcissão do Senhor dos Passos da Graça
Lisbon's Lenten walk of seven Passion stops, kept every year since 1587Spiritual
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 1 moreMarriage vows
The promises a couple speak to each other as they marryRite of passage
🇭🇷 Hvar, CroatiaZa križen
A night procession on Hvar island where six villages walk simultaneously to honor the cross.Spiritual
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint Thomas Aquinas
An annual Christian feast day honouring the medieval theologian Saint Thomas AquinasSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomRacial Justice Sunday
A day of prayer and action for racial justice observed by British Christian churches in February.Spiritual
🇮🇹 Avezzano, ItalyFeast of the Madonna di PietraquariaMadonna di Pietraquaria
A three-day spring festival in Avezzano marked by neighborhood bonfires, a street fair, and a mountain-to-city processioFestival
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreEmber daysQuatuor Tempora
A quarterly Western Christian rhythm of fasting, prayer and seasonal thanksgivingSeasonal · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇱🇹 LithuaniaLithuanian cross craftingLietuvos kryždirbystė
A Lithuanian folk art of carving wooden crosses that blend Christian faith with ancient Baltic symbols.Craft
🇱🇺 Luxembourg City, Luxembourg and 3 moreOktavMuttergottesoktav
A two-week annual Marian pilgrimage and festival in Luxembourg CitySpiritual · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис
A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇸 SerbiaVertepвертеп
A Serbian Orthodox Christmas Eve custom, named for the cave of the NativitySpiritual
🇭🇷 CroatiaBadnjakBadnji dan
A Christmas Eve oak log burned in the hearth across Croatia to welcome the holiday.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United KingdomHarvest Festival
An autumn thanksgiving for the crops, kept in churches and schools across the UKSeasonal · Supper
🇭🇷 Metković, CroatiaŽudije
Dalmatian guardians who watch the tomb of Christ from Holy Thursday to Easter VigilSpiritual
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreCabañuelasLas cabañuelas
A traditional weather forecasting method using the first thirty-one days of January to predict the rest of the year.Folklore
🇧🇪 BelgiumMarches of Entre-Sambre-et-MeuseMarches de l'Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse
Folk processions with armed escorts in Belgian villages, kept from May to OctoberSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreRespite SanctuarySanctuaire à répit
A historical Catholic custom of seeking brief revival to baptise stillborn infantsSpiritual
🇮🇸 Skálholt, IcelandThorlak's MassÞorláksmessa
Iceland's feast of its patron saint on 23 December, the last day before ChristmasSpiritual
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 2 moreInsufflation
A ritual of blowing and breathing, used at baptism to drive out evil and breathe in graceSpiritual
🇪🇸 SpainGragerגראַגער (grager)
A noisemaker used by Jewish communities to drown out the name of Haman during Purim readings.Festival
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint MarkFesta di san Marco
Saint Mark's day on 25 April, kept with rosebuds in Venice and harvest care in LithuaniaSpiritual
🇮🇹 Lake Nemi, ItalyNemoralia
A three-day Roman festival of torches and garlands for the goddess DianaSpiritual
🇬🇷 GreeceKalanta ChristougenonΚάλαντα Χριστουγέννων
A Greek Christmas carol, sung around the feast with triangle and guitarPerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Venus Verticordia: kladcat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ras'ken' Ozks: Erzianj jurnalist, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Thorlak's Mass: Orf3us, Public domain, source
- Medjugorje International Youth Festival: Piotr Frydecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nemoralia: Frederic Leighton, Public domain, source
- Polaznik: Carlton Alfred Smith, Public domain, source
- Daphnephoria: Frederic Leighton, Public domain, source
- Sparagmos: WolfgangRieger, Public domain, source
- Day of Republika Srpska: Ministry of Defence of Republic of Serbia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of Saint Mark: No machine-readable author provided. Cremedia assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Amburbium: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Skyclad ritual: Luis Ricardo Falero, Public domain, source
- Secular coming-of-age ceremony: Karsten Davideit, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Versus populum: Stebunik, CC BY 4.0, source
- Za križen: E.mil.mil, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marriage vows: Tumi-1983, Public domain, source
- Graça Procession of the Lord of the Passion: Franciscomendia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Räucherkerze: Richard Huber, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Navigium Isidis: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lazarice: Svetlina bov at Bulgarian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Badnjak: Vidonjac, CC BY 2.0, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse: Hoebele, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Respite Sanctuary: Atelier Roussel à Beauvais 1878, Public domain, source
- Grager: https://www.flickr.com/people/69061470@N05, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Racial Justice Sunday: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Feast of the Madonna di Pietraquaria: Marica Massaro, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lithuanian cross crafting: Vilensija, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Oktav: Daderot, CC0, source
- Salting the earth: C.W.M., Public domain, source
- Ember days: Richard Symonds, CC BY 3.0, source
- Harvest Festival: Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, source