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
🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaMaltese Carnivalil-Karnival ta' Malta
A lively week of costumed parades, dancing, satirical floats and sweets across Malta.Festival · Sweets given and shared
🇲🇹 Nadur, MaltaNadur Carnival
An unscripted five-day costume festival filling the streets of Nadur before LentFestival
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreGlögg
A spiced, warm winter wine served across Nordic countries around ChristmasTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇩🇰 DenmarkJul
Winter feasts, carols around the tree, and family gatherings across DenmarkFestival · Lunch
🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreJulebord
A Scandinavian Christmas banquet of traditional dishes, festive drinks and celebrationTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇱 Kraków, PolandLajkonikLajkoniki
An annual hobby-horse pageant through the streets of Kraków each JuneFestival
🇳🇱 Noordwijk, Netherlands and 1 moreBloemencorso
Annual parades of flower-covered floats and boats in the Netherlands and BelgiumFestival
🇳🇱 NetherlandsBloemencorso Bollenstreek
An annual mid-April parade of flower-covered floats across the Dutch bulb regionFestival
🇧🇪 Bruges, BelgiumProcession of the Holy BloodHeilig Bloedprocessie
An annual sacred parade and historical pageant through the streets of Bruges, Belgium.Spiritual
🇮🇹 Florence, ItalyCalcio storico fiorentino
A fierce Renaissance ball game played on sand between four Florentine districtsGame
🇪🇸 Valencia, SpainFallasFalles de València
Valencia's five-day March fiesta of giant paper figures and bonfiresFestival
🇱🇹 Vilnius, Lithuania and 3 moreSaint Casimir's FairKaziuko mugė
A spring craft market and folk celebration across the historic streets of VilniusCraft
🇱🇺 Luxembourg City, LuxembourgSchueberfouer
An annual late-summer funfair and historic fair held in Luxembourg CityFestival
🇨🇭 Basel, SwitzerlandCarnival of BaselBasler Fasnacht
A 72-hour masked carnival of drums, flutes and satire in northern SwitzerlandFestival
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumCarnival of BincheCarnaval de Binche
A Belgian pre-Lenten festival known for masked dancers and orange tossingFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMothering Sunday
A mid-Lent Christian observance and family celebration of mothers and mother churchesSeasonal · Breakfast
🇫🇮 FinlandChristmas in Finlandjoulu
A quiet midwinter festival of saunas, grave candles and table casseroles across FinlandSeasonal · Dinner
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreTió de Nadal
A Catalan Christmas tradition where a decorated log is fed and beaten to produce small gifts for children.Festival
🇪🇸 Alicante, SpainBonfires of Saint John in AlicanteFogueres de Sant Joan
A midsummer festival of towering satirical monuments, music and fire in AlicanteFestival
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreNovy GodНовый Год
A secular winter celebration of decorated trees, family feasts and midnight giftsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 morePalm Sunday
A Christian Sunday feast marking Jesus's entry into Jerusalem with blessed branches.Spiritual
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreZaduszkiZaduszki, Dzień Zaduszny
A Polish day of prayer for the dead on 2 November, kept with candles at the gravesSpiritual
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBread and saltхлеб-соль
Bread and salt offered to a guest: a welcome kept from Russia to AlbaniaEtiquette
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 1 moreBaba MartaБаба Марта
A Bulgarian day on 1 March, when red and white martenitsi are given and wornFestival
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 4 moreBabindenБабинден
A Bulgarian feast honoring midwives and new mothers with rituals of bathing, feasting, and blessing.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreMaypole
A tall wooden pole, garlanded and danced around, raised at May Day, Whitsun or MidsummerFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 morePolterabend
Guests smash porcelain the night before a wedding to wish the couple luckRite of passage
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreBonfire Night
Yearly nights of bonfires and fireworks, kept in Britain, Ireland and beyondFestival
🇬🇧 Brockworth, United KingdomCooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
A round of cheese, a steep hill, and runners chasing it down for the prizeGame
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 1 moreUkrainian embroideryвишивка (vyshyvka)
A stitched folk art of Ukraine, worked into shirts, cloths and church furnishingsCraft
🇪🇸 Seville, Spain and 5 moreAzulejo
Painted, tin-glazed ceramic tiles that cover walls and floors across Portugal and SpainCraft
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreŚwięconka
The Polish Holy Saturday blessing of baskets filled with Easter morning foodSpiritual
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreUshankaушанка
An ear-flapped fur hat from Russia, tied up or under the chin against the coldDress
🇮🇪 Uisneach, Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine
A Gaelic first-of-summer festival of bonfires, May flowers and feasting on 1 MaySeasonal
🇬🇧 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
🇮🇪 Killorglin, Ireland and 1 moreLughnasadhLúnasa
A Gaelic festival marking the start of harvest with feasts, fairs and mountain walksSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain and 1 moreSardana
A Catalan circle dance, danced hand in hand to an eleven-player cobla bandPerformance
🇷🇺 Dymkovo, RussiaDymkovo toysДымковская игрушка
Painted clay people, animals and whistles, shaped by women in Dymkovo near KirovCraft
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreKhorovodхоровод
A Slavic circle dance with singing, danced with linked hands or little fingersPerformance
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreKallikantzarosκαλικάντζαρος
A malevolent goblin of Greek and Balkan folklore, active in the Christmas season.Folklore
🇮🇪 Dublin, IrelandShamrockseamróg
A small three-leaved clover, worn in Ireland on St Patrick's Day as a national emblemFolklore
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 4 moreSinterklaasSinterklaas / Sint-Nicolaas
A Dutch winter feast on 5 and 6 December, when Saint Nicholas brings gifts to childrenFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 3 moreZwarte Piet
Saint Nicholas's companion in the Low Countries, who hands out sweets to childrenFolklore · Sweets given and shared
🇵🇹 Barcelos, Portugal and 1 moreRooster of BarcelosGalo de Barcelos
A Portuguese tale of a roast rooster that crowed to clear an innocent manFolklore
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreCrayfish partykräftskiva
Boiled crayfish, snaps and paper lanterns at a late-summer party in Sweden and FinlandTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇹 Vienna, AustriaVienna New Year's ConcertNeujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker
A morning of waltzes and polkas on 1 January, played by the Vienna PhilharmonicPerformance
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreSmorgasbordsmörgåsbord
A Swedish table of hot and cold dishes where guests serve themselvesTable custom · Lunch
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Gilles: Marie-Claire, CC BY 3.0, source
- Martenitsa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Korovai: Olli Niemitalo, CC0, source
- Rushnyk: Pavlo Boyko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Maltese Carnival: Ronny Siegel, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nadur Carnival: Thyes, Public domain, source
- Glögg: Mr.choppers, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jul: Erik Christensen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Julebord: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lajkonik: Igor123121, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bloemencorso: Dekraaie, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bloemencorso Bollenstreek: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Procession of the Holy Blood: Cbl62, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Calcio storico fiorentino: Stradanus / After Giorgio Vasari, Public domain, source
- Fallas: Goodnighmoon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Casimir's Fair: Sirex at Lithuanian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Schueberfouer: Denise Hastert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Carnival of Basel: Claude TRUONG-NGOC, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mothering Sunday: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Christmas in Finland: Uploaded by Sigketill, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tió de Nadal: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Bonfires of Saint John in Alicante: Fernando Pastor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Novy God: Евгений Самарин, CC BY 4.0, source
- Palm Sunday: Pietro Lorenzetti, Public domain, source
- Zaduszki: Ivan Mrkvička, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Babinden: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Maypole: Uploaded by Mikael Häggström, CC0, source
- Polterabend: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bonfire Night: Jpdfive, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake: Dave Farrance, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Azulejo: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Święconka: Błażej Benisz, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Ushanka: Eugene Zelenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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
- Lughnasadh: Mountainash333, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sardana: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dymkovo toys: Georg Pik, Public domain, source
- Khorovod: Aleksey Stepanov, Public domain, source
- Kallikantzaros: Katolophyromai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shamrock: Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sinterklaas: R.F. (Roel) Jorna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zwarte Piet: The illustrator is Daan Hoeksma, who died in 1935. The author is liste, Public domain, source
- Rooster of Barcelos: Adriculas, Public domain, source
- Crayfish party: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vienna New Year's Concert: Michal Osmenda, CC BY 2.0, source
- Smorgasbord: Jordan Klein, CC BY 2.0, source