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
🇷🇺 Mstyora, RussiaMstyora miniatureМстёрская миниатюра
Tempera miniature painting on lacquered papier-mâché, made in Mstyora, RussiaCraft
🇪🇸 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
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreGymnastyorkaгимнастёрка
A loose pullover smock that began as a peasant shirt and became a soldier's uniformDress
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSack Man
A widespread folklore figure who carries a sack to take away disobedient childrenFolklore
🇪🇸 Madrid, Spain and 4 moreFeast of Saint Isidore the LaborerFiestas de San Isidro Labrador
A May festival honoring the patron saint of farmers, marked by processions and harvest gratitude in Spain and former colFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇹 Tyrol, AustriaLoden capeLodenmantel
A rain-shedding wool overcoat from Tyrol, part of the region's TrachtDress
🇧🇪 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
🇫🇷 Lyon, France and 2 moreWeek of Prayer for Christian Unity
An eight-day international period of shared prayer for reconciliation among churchesSpiritual
🇬🇧 Orkney, United KingdomNuckelaveeknoggelvi
A horse-like sea demon of Orkney folklore, blamed for drought, plague and sick livestock.Folklore
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreQuaker wedding
A silent marriage ceremony in a Quaker meeting, with no priest and no set orderRite of passage
🇷🇺 RussiaStalin tunicсталинка
The plain jacket Soviet officials adopted as a political uniformDress
🇮🇸 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
🇬🇷 Sparta, GreeceChitonχιτών
A draped tunic of wool or linen worn across ancient Greece and RomeDress
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, DenmarkNatFilm Festival
An annual Danish cinema gathering held around Easter from 1990 to 2008Performance
🇬🇷 GreeceTablionταβλίον
An embroidered panel on the ceremonial mantle of Byzantine courtiers.Dress
🇬🇧 United KingdomBean-nighe
A Scottish spirit of the streams who washes shrouds to foretell deathFolklore
🇬🇧 Chipping Campden, United KingdomCotswold Olimpick Games
Races, wrestling and shin-kicking on a Cotswold hillside, held since about 1612Game
🇮🇹 Trieste, ItalyBarcolanaBarkovljanka
A one-start-line sailing race held each October in the Gulf of TriesteGame
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 2 moreOchipokочіпок
The embroidered cap a Ukrainian bride put on at her wedding and kept afterwardsDress
🇩🇪 Hamburg, GermanyPrince Henry capPrinz-Heinrich-Mütze
A peaked cap with a tall band and a small firm crown, linked to German naval dressDress
🇵🇹 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
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomStirrup cup
A farewell drink served to guests as they depart, often while mounting a horse.Etiquette
🇮🇹 Lake Nemi, ItalyNemoralia
A three-day Roman festival of torches and garlands for the goddess DianaSpiritual
🇨🇿 Prague, CzechiaPrague SoundsStruny podzimu
An annual music festival in Prague presenting jazz, classical and electronic artistsFestival
🇮🇸 Reykjavík, IcelandIceland Noir
An annual November literature and storytelling festival held in central ReykjavíkPerformance
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreReynard the FoxRoman de Renart
A medieval European beast fable cycle starring a cunning trickster foxFolklore
🇪🇪 Kuremaa, EstoniaJõgevatreff
An annual international motorcycle festival held in Kuremaa, EstoniaFestival
🇮🇹 ItalyDies lustricus
An ancient Roman naming ceremony where a newborn was purified and given their first name.Rite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United KingdomDruid's PrayerGweddi'r Derwydd
A short Welsh prayer by Iolo Morganwg, said in ritual by druids todaySpiritual
🇺🇦 Kolomyia, Ukraine and 4 moreKolomyikaКоломийка
A quick Hutsul dance-song of comic rhymed verses, danced at weddings and holidaysPerformance
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Knight's Ghost
A traditional folk ballad of grief, captive soldiers and a midnight spectral visitationPerformance
🇷🇸 Belgrade, Serbia and 2 moreMerlinka Festival
An annual queer film festival held across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and MontenegroFestival
🇭🇷 Metković, CroatiaŽudije
Dalmatian guardians who watch the tomb of Christ from Holy Thursday to Easter VigilSpiritual
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreFlabiol
A Catalan woodwind flute played alongside a small drum in folk dancesPerformance
🇮🇹 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
🇮🇪 Kinsale, IrelandKinsale cloakfallaing Chionn tSáile
The last Irish cloak, a hooded wool wrap of West Cork, worn into the 1900sDress
🇧🇪 Oostduinkerke, BelgiumShrimp fishing on horseback in Oostduinkerke
Fishers ride draft horses into the sea at Oostduinkerke to net brown shrimpCraft
🇷🇺 RussiaRussian folk music
The village songs, choirs and instruments of Russia's ethnic Russian peoplePerformance
🇵🇹 PortugalMissas do Parto
Nine morning Masses in Madeira that follow Mary through the last days of her pregnancySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreBliaut
A fitted medieval overgarment with trailing sleeves, worn in France and nearby landsDress
🇱🇺 LuxembourgCinEast
An October film festival in Luxembourg showing new cinema from Central and Eastern EuropeFestival
🇮🇸 IcelandChristmas in IcelandJól
A winter festival of mountain folklore, family feasts and thirteen mischievous visitorsFestival · Dinner
🇬🇧 Penzance, United KingdomGuldizeGool dheys
A Cornish harvest supper after the last sheaf is cut, with pork, pie, singing and gamesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇴 NorwayMárkomeannu
A Sámi music and cultural festival held in northern NorwayFestival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Cotswold Olimpick Games: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kinsale cloak: LynnMGallagher, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shrimp fishing on horseback in Oostduinkerke: Roosde, CC BY 4.0, source
- Russian folk music: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gymnastyorka: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Nuckelavee: Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Stalin tunic: shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Thorlak's Mass: Orf3us, Public domain, source
- Barcolana: Roberto Baroni, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Prince Henry cap: KarleHorn, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nemoralia: Frederic Leighton, Public domain, source
- Iceland Noir: TommyBee, CC0, source
- Christmas in Iceland: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Márkomeannu: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Missas do Parto: Porto Bay Events, CC BY 2.0, 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
- Flabiol: P0mbal, CC0, source
- Jõgevatreff: Aleksei Malogin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Za križen: E.mil.mil, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marriage vows: Tumi-1983, Public domain, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Graça Procession of the Lord of the Passion: Franciscomendia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ochipok: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Tablion: Ввласенко, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Loden cape: KingaNBM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: Kaihsu Tai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of Saint Isidore the Laborer: Ángel Lizcano Monedero, Public domain, source
- Mstyora miniature: Bin im Garten, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sack Man: Ponscor, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse: Hoebele, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kolomyika: Teodor Axentowicz, Public domain, source
- Chiton: Berlin Painter, CC BY 2.5, source