holiday customs
Festive annual practices
Holiday customs are the traditional practices, rituals, and activities associated with particular holidays—decorating trees at Christmas, lighting candles during Hanukkah, watching fireworks on the Fourth of July.
These customs vary by culture, religion, and family: Our holiday customs include making tamales on Christmas Eve.
The phrase emphasizes the habitual, passed-down nature of such practices rather than one-time celebrations.
- community feastsCollective meals for groups
- breaking breadSharing food communally
- family gatheringsRelatives meeting socially
- candle lightingIgniting wax wicks
- midnight massWorship at Christmas's first hour
harvest festivals · dancing · egg hunts · trick or treat · lanterns · fireworks display · fasting · folklore · bonfires · gift giving · red envelopes · prayer · hymn singing · carol singing · folk music · pilgrimage · storytelling · parades
- cultural differenceslocal cuisine, dialect, slang, religious practices, traditions
- folklorefairy tales, fairytales, folktales, folk tales, folk tale
- homemakingcooking, cleaning, laundry, recipes, baking
- French leisurepetanque, boules, cafe culture, bistros, French cafes
- etiquettemanners, politeness, etiquette, table manners, courtesy
- Jewish ObservanceShabbat, Kiddush, Havdalah, morning prayers, evening prayers