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
🇪🇪 EstoniaSeto leeloleelo
Polyphonic folk singing of the Setos, led by women in traditional dressPerformance
🇷🇺 Khokhloma, RussiaKhokhlomaхохлома
Russian folk painting of red, black and gold flowers and berries on wooden tablewareCraft
🇬🇷 Olympia, Greece and 5 moreOlympic flame
A flame kindled in Greece, carried by torch to light the cauldron of each GamesCeremony
🇺🇦 UkraineTraditional Ukrainian wedding
A wedding spread over many days, with matchmaking, bread, wreaths and songRite of passage
🇨🇭 Liestal, SwitzerlandChienbäse
A Swiss carnival night parade of blazing pinewood brooms and carts of fireFestival
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomRoyal Maundy
A Church of England service where the monarch gives silver Maundy coins to older peopleSpiritual
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomRemembrance Sunday
A day of solemn remembrance for military and civilian service members in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.Ceremony
🇬🇷 Patras, GreecePatras CarnivalPatrino karnavali
A winter carnival of parades, street games and satirical floats in western GreeceFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreCarol service
A Christmas church service of seasonal hymns, scripture readings and candlelightSpiritual
🇧🇪 Aalst, BelgiumAalst CarnivalAalst Carnaval
A three-day street carnival of satire, costumed parades and folk rituals in AalstFestival
🇦🇹 Salzburg, Austria and 5 morePerchta
A midwinter Alpine figure who checks spinning and tests good behaviourFolklore
🇷🇺 Pavlovsky Posad, RussiaPavlovo Posad shawlПавловопосадский платок
A woolen Russian shawl printed with flowers, made in the town of Pavlovsky PosadDress
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 3 moreIrish dance
Ireland's traditional solo and group dances, from social halls to world competitionsPerformance
🇮🇹 ItalyCantu a tenorecantu a tenòre
Four men singing in a tight circle, a vocal art of Sardinia's Barbagia hillsPerformance
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEpiphany
A January feast of the Magi, the Jordan baptism and the Cana miracle, kept by ChristiansSpiritual
🇮🇹 Florence, ItalyScoppio del Carro
An Easter Sunday fireworks display ignited by a flying dove in FlorenceFestival
🇧🇪 Mons, BelgiumDucasse de Mons
An eight-day festival in Mons featuring a golden carriage and a dragon combatFestival
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreWren DayLá an Dreoilín
A Saint Stephen's Day custom where groups parade a stuffed wren on a decorated pole through their community.Festival
🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineVertepвертеп
A two-tiered Ukrainian puppet theatre that mixes the nativity story with satirical comedy and folk music.Performance
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreImmortal RegimentБессмертный полк (Bessmertnyy polk)
A civic procession where people carry portraits of relatives who served in the Second World War.Festival
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreSerbian ChristmasБожић
A three-day midwinter observance focused on oak logs, floor straw and family gatheringsSpiritual · Dinner
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumGillesGille
Costumed carnival figures of Binche and surrounding Belgian townsFestival
🇵🇱 PolandEaster in Poland
A spring holiday of family breakfasts, blessed baskets, decorated eggs, and water games.Festival · Breakfast
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreSwabian-Alemannic FastnachtFastnacht
A late-winter carnival of masks and jesters kept before Lent in the Alemannic landsFestival
🇷🇺 RussiaSarafanсарафа́н
A long, flared Russian dress, the everyday wear of peasant women for centuriesDress
🇷🇺 Moscow, RussiaChristmas in RussiaРождество Христово
An Orthodox winter feast marked by church vigils, fasting suppers and festive mealsSpiritual · Supper
🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain and 4 moreCaganerEl Caganer
A defecating figurine placed in Catalan nativity scenes to bring good luck and fertilize the earth.Festival
🇭🇷 CroatiaLacemaking in CroatiaČipkarstvo u Hrvatskoj
Hand-worked lace in three styles, kept in Croatian towns from the coast to the northCraft
🇪🇸 SpainOlentzero
A Basque Christmas tradition of a charcoal burner bringing presents in midwinterFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreTopping out
A builders' rite for the day the last beam goes up, marked with a tree, a flag and a toastCraft
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 3 moreLittle ChristmasNollaig na mBan
A January feast day marking the close of the twelve days of ChristmasSeasonal · Dinner
🇦🇹 Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria and 2 moreSilent NightStille Nacht, heilige Nacht
A Christmas carol composed in Austria in 1818, now sung worldwide as a symbol of peace.Performance
🇵🇹 Lisbon, PortugalFado
Portugal's song of fate and longing, sung in Lisbon and CoimbraPerformance
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEvil eye
A belief in harm cast by envious glares, met with protective charms and spoken blessingsFolklore
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreZakuskiзакуски
A laid-out table of cold small dishes that opens a Russian festive mealTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇵🇹 Porto, PortugalFesta de São João do Porto
Porto's midsummer festival of street feasts, fireworks and playful hammer tapsFestival
🇩🇰 Denmark and 3 moreNissenisse (Danish, Norwegian); tomte (Swedish); tonttu (Finnish)
A small farm spirit of Nordic folklore, given porridge at midwinterFolklore
🇪🇸 Jijona, Spain and 5 moreTurrón
A festive Mediterranean nut-and-honey confection shared at Christmas and local feastsTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇷🇺 RussiaRussian wedding traditions
A Russian wedding runs two days to a week, with ransom games, crowns and toastsRite of passage
🇦🇹 Vienna, AustriaViennese coffee house cultureWiener Kaffeehauskultur
A Viennese social ritual where patrons linger for hours with a single coffee and newspapers.Etiquette · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇦🇹 Austria and 5 moreKrampus
Saint Nicholas's horned companion, who comes for misbehaving children on 5 DecemberFolklore
🇪🇸 SpainCorrefoc
Devil-costumed fire runs through the streets of Catalan and Valencian festival townsFestival
🇱🇹 Vilnius, LithuaniaLithuanian Song FestivalLietuvių dainų ir šokių šventė
A periodic national festival of choral singing, dance and folklore in LithuaniaFestival
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 1 moreVyshyvankaвишиванка (Ukrainian), вышыванка (Belarusian)
An embroidered shirt of Ukraine and Belarus, its patterns marking region and familyDress
🇬🇧 United KingdomTartanbreacan
The checked woollen cloth of Scotland, woven from crossing stripes into named patternsDress
🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 2 moreAlbanian iso-polyphonyIso-polifonia
Multi-part Albanian singing with a held drone, kept across the southPerformance
🇧🇪 Antwerp, Belgium and 2 moreOmmegangommegang (Dutch)
Medieval town processions of the Low Countries, with giants, guilds and horsesCeremony
🇮🇹 Foligno, ItalyGiostra della Quintana
A June and September joust in Foligno, where ten knights spear ringsFestival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Patras Carnival: www.infocenterpatras.gr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Olympic flame: RuinDig/Yuki Uchida, CC BY 4.0, source
- Lacemaking in Croatia: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 hr, source
- Chienbäse: Christof Berger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Khokhloma: Dmfff, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aalst Carnival: Wikisid, CC BY 3.0, source
- Lithuanian Song Festival: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Turrón: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Festa de São João do Porto: Hugo Cadavez, CC BY 2.0, source
- Olentzero: Josu Goñi Etxabe, Public domain, source
- Christmas in Russia: Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Caganer: Roeland P., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sarafan: Hanna Zelenko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Easter in Poland: Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gilles: Marie-Claire, CC BY 3.0, source
- Serbian Christmas: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Immortal Regiment: Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0, source
- Vertep: Микола Василечко, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wren Day: Manx James, CC0, source
- Ducasse de Mons: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Perchta: Holger Uwe Schmitt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Remembrance Sunday: Philip Stevens, Public domain, source
- Pavlovo Posad shawl: Svetlov Artem, CC0, source
- Irish dance: U.S. Army, Public domain, source
- Cantu a tenore: Sardegnabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Giostra della Quintana: Alb.Maur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Krampus: Naturpuur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Correfoc: Calvesklein, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Russian wedding traditions: GeorgeLouis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vyshyvanka: Vasily Andreevich Tropinin, Public domain, source
- Zakuski: Timothy Post, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Topping out: PKS at Danish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Nisse: AlphaZeta, CC0, source
- Viennese coffee house culture: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Tartan: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ommegang: Zorro2212, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Silent Night: Franz Xaver Gruber (1787–1863), Public domain, source
- Fado: Pedro Simões, CC BY 2.0, source
- Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Royal Maundy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Epiphany: Gentile da Fabriano, Public domain, source
- Seto leelo: Ave Maria Mõistlik, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Traditional Ukrainian wedding: Пимоненко, Николай Корнильевич, Public domain, source
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source