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
🇮🇹 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
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreBliaut
A fitted medieval overgarment with trailing sleeves, worn in France and nearby landsDress
🇬🇷 GreeceKalanta ChristougenonΚάλαντα Χριστουγέννων
A Greek Christmas carol, sung around the feast with triangle and guitarPerformance
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, NetherlandsKoningsmantel
The Dutch royal cloak of red velvet and ermine, brought out when a monarch is sworn inDress
🇷🇺 RussiaPodvorotnichokподворотничок
A detachable white fabric strip sewn inside military uniform collars for hygieneDress
🇬🇷 GreecePeronaiπερόνη (perónē)
A long straight pin that fastened Greek clothing, and a weapon in Greek legendDress
🇵🇹 PortugalMissas do Parto
Nine morning Masses in Madeira that follow Mary through the last days of her pregnancySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇭🇺 HungaryDolman
A Hungarian-bred garment, worn as hussar uniform and later as a woman's outdoor wrapDress
🇫🇷 Cayenne, FranceCarnival of French Guiana
A weeks-long carnival of masked balls and parades, from Epiphany to Mardi GrasFestival
🇽🇰 Gjilan, KosovoFlaka e Janarit
A winter arts festival in Kosovo honoring national martyrs through music, drama and verseFestival
🇲🇰 Skopje, North MacedoniaAnother Story FestivalДруга приказна
An annual literary festival in Skopje celebrating short fiction, activism, and diverse voices.Festival
🇲🇹 MaltaFestival Kanzunetta IndipendenzaKonkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza
An annual music contest in Malta celebrating native songwriting around Independence DayPerformance
🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaMużika Mużika
A national song competition in Malta that selects artists for the Eurovision contest and celebrates Maltese music.Performance
🇷🇺 Moscow, RussiaSpartakiad of the Peoples of the USSRСпартакиада народов СССР
A massive multi-sport festival that brought together Soviet republics every four yearsGame
🇲🇹 Floriana, MaltaIsle of MTV
A major free summer open-air pop and electronic music gathering held in MaltaFestival
🇧🇦 Konjic, Bosnia and HerzegovinaKonjic woodcarvingKonjičko drvorezbarstvo
A traditional hand-carving craft shaping furniture and home ornaments in KonjicCraft
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaRiga International Short Film Festival 2ANNASRīgas Starptautiskais īsfilmu festivāls 2ANNAS
An annual autumn film competition and screening event held in Riga, LatviaPerformance
🇽🇰 Prizren, KosovoAutostrada Biennale
A biennial contemporary art festival and cultural exhibition in Prizren, KosovoPerformance
🇸🇰 Pezinok, SlovakiaPezinok Grape Harvest FestivalPezinské vinobranie
An annual autumn harvest and wine festival filling the streets of Pezinok, SlovakiaSeasonal · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇸🇰 SlovakiaName days in SlovakiaMeniny
The Slovak tradition of celebrating personal name days alongside birthdaysSeasonal
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 6 moreManifesta
A roving European contemporary art festival held in a new host city every two yearsPerformance
🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaL-Għanja tal-Poplu
An annual Maltese music festival celebrating original songs in MaltesePerformance
🇮🇸 Reykjavík, IcelandReykjavík PrideHinsegin dagar í Reykjavík
An annual festival and parade celebrating LGBT+ rights and visibility in IcelandFestival
🇬🇷 GreeceLipothymiarikosΛιποθυμιάρικος (Χορός της νύφης)
A men-only Greek wedding dance where one dancer pretends to faint and springs upPerformance
🇲🇪 Herceg Novi, MontenegroSunčane Skale
A three-day summer pop music festival and song competition in MontenegroPerformance
🇳🇴 NorwayMárkomeannu
A Sámi music and cultural festival held in northern NorwayFestival
🇬🇧 Penzance, United KingdomGuldizeGool dheys
A Cornish harvest supper after the last sheaf is cut, with pork, pie, singing and gamesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇸 IcelandChristmas in IcelandJól
A winter festival of mountain folklore, family feasts and thirteen mischievous visitorsFestival · Dinner
🇨🇭 Basel, Switzerland and 4 moreScheibenschlagen
A Central European custom where glowing wooden disks are flung from hillsides into valleys at dusk.Festival
🇷🇸 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
🇽🇰 Kosovo and 2 morePodruga
A Balkan custom in which a childless wife agreed to a second wife joining the householdRite of passage
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 2 moreOyez
A traditional ceremonial call chanted to open court sessions and civic assembliesCeremony
🇱🇺 LuxembourgCinEast
An October film festival in Luxembourg showing new cinema from Central and Eastern EuropeFestival
🇭🇷 Metković, CroatiaŽudije
Dalmatian guardians who watch the tomb of Christ from Holy Thursday to Easter VigilSpiritual
🇬🇧 Atherstone, United KingdomAtherstone Ball Game
An annual medieval football match played in Atherstone on Shrove Tuesday to honour a 12th-century victory.Game
🇷🇸 Belgrade, Serbia and 2 moreMerlinka Festival
An annual queer film festival held across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and MontenegroFestival
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreReynard the FoxRoman de Renart
A medieval European beast fable cycle starring a cunning trickster foxFolklore
🇬🇷 GreeceHimationἱμάτιον
A wool or linen wrap worn across ancient Greece, later taken up in Rome and ByzantiumDress
🇬🇷 GreeceKausiaκαυσία
A flat hat of ancient Macedonia, worn by kings and later as sun cover in RomeDress
🇮🇸 Reykjavík, IcelandIceland Noir
An annual November literature and storytelling festival held in central ReykjavíkPerformance
🇨🇭 Bern, Switzerland and 4 moreTatzelwurm
A cat-faced dragon of Alpine lore, said to hiss, poison the air and guard old tunnelsFolklore
🇷🇸 Belgrade, Serbia and 5 moreSerbian traditional clothingсрпска народна ношња (srpska narodna nošnja)
The regional folk attire of Serbs, featuring wool, linen, and leather, worn for celebrations and cultural identity.Dress
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainTraje de flamenca
The ruffled dress women wear to the fairs of AndalusiaDress
🇪🇸 Valencia, Spain and 1 moreZaragüellessarāwīl (Andalusi Arabic), saragüells (Valencian)
Wide, pleated breeches of Andalusian origin, worn as traditional dress in parts of Spain and Morocco.Dress
🇫🇷 FranceBreton costume
The traditional folk dress and lace headdresses worn for festivals across BrittanyDress
🇨🇭 Zurich, SwitzerlandSwiss traditional costumeSchweizer Trachten
Distinct regional festive dress worn across the cantons of SwitzerlandDress
🇩🇪 Überlingen, GermanyÜberlinger HänseleHänsele
A masked carnival figure kept by male citizens in Überlingen, Germany, during Fasnet and summer processions.Festival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Iceland Noir: TommyBee, CC0, source
- Christmas in Iceland: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Márkomeannu: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Reykjavík Pride: Helgi Halldórsson, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Manifesta: Manifesta8 manifesta 8, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Autostrada Biennale: Lajmmoore, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pezinok Grape Harvest Festival: Bratislavská župa, CC BY 2.0, source
- Konjic woodcarving: LBM1948, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Isle of MTV: Continentaleurope, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Flaka e Janarit: E Sadiku, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dolman: Jean Baptiste Vanmour, Public domain, source
- Missas do Parto: Porto Bay Events, CC BY 2.0, source
- Koningsmantel: Thérèse Schwartze, Public domain, source
- Bliaut: Edmund Blair Leighton, Public domain, source
- Feast of Saint Mark: No machine-readable author provided. Cremedia assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Carnival of French Guiana: Didwin973, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Another Story Festival: Vancho Dzambaski, CC0, source
- Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR: Scanning Dmitry Makeev , scan date - 2020 year., Public domain, source
- Scheibenschlagen: Josef Saurwein, Zams, Public domain, source
- Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Oyez: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Atherstone Ball Game: Adrian Roebuck, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Himation: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kausia: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain, source
- Tatzelwurm: Abrasax, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Serbian traditional clothing: Kolega2357, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Traje de flamenca: MariCruz México, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zaragüelles: Isidoro Marín Garés, Public domain, source
- Breton costume: XIIIfromTOKYO, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Swiss traditional costume: Robertuswiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Überlinger Hänsele: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 4.0, source